Survive
by Cormak3032
Summary: The Goblin King is summoned by a little girl who's wish is for him to help her mother survive. J/S FINISHED!!!!!!
1. Survive...

AN: I finally got my hands on David Bowie's "Hours" CD. I heard `Survive" once and I had to write a story to go with it. I'm not one for song fics, but I had to write this one.  
  
Disclaimers: The lyrics included in this story belong to the ageless David Bowie.  
  
Survive  
  
He was a shadow against the moon lit night sky. Dressed completely in black. The only thing that made one realize that he was not a shadow was the spiky blond hair, white in the moonlight, that whipped around his pale face. The night, his kingdom, were all unchanged before him. Despite time, they remained immortal like him. Change was a strange concept to this place. He had not changed much in his lifetime. He remained the insolent, but lonely King. When change came, he did not know how to cope with it. She had changed his entire world and it had never again been the same.  
  
I should have kept you  
  
I should have tried  
  
I should have been a wiser kind of guy  
  
I miss you  
  
It didn't matter how many times he stood on the balcony looking out at the maze of walls, and hedges. Everything reminded him of her. He was angry with himself when it was over that he had not tried harder to win her, to convince her to stay. She didn't need her brother. She needed him. He desperately wanted to believe that.  
  
Give me wings  
  
Give me space  
  
Give me money for a change of face  
  
Those noisy rooms and passion pants  
  
I loved you  
  
He had not known the emotion. It was so foreign to him that he had fought and struggled against it with all that he could. But even he, with all his magic and power was no match for it. It had gripped him tightly and wouldn't relinquish its hold. He was powerless to prevent its onslaught and when it overtook him he didn't wish to deny it. He embraced it with all that he was. He tried to show her, but he was naïve. It didn't matter that he was hundreds of years old, immortal. For he had never known love and he didn't know how to claim it from another. Or how to prove that he could possess it.  
  
He thought he had done the right thing. Offering her the dreams so dear to her. He had even offered himself. But he had not gone about things the correct way. And even if he had, he still would not have won her heart. For she was a child and she too did not know the true meaning of love.  
  
Where's the morning in my life?  
  
Where's the sense in staying right?  
  
Who said 'time is on my side'?  
  
Time was a curse, a thorn in his side. Time was what pushed her away from him. Time had limits after all and she had wisely used her time. She had defeated him. She had defeated him well. Time was his betrayer now. He had watched the minutes and hours go by and still she was not with him. Still he was alone.  
  
I've got ears and eyes and nothing in my life  
  
But I'll survive your naked eyes  
  
I'll survive  
  
At times if felt like he wouldn't. He wanted to give up and not go on. But he was a King, even if his subjects were sometimes stupid, and they made a mess of his beautiful castle. He was still a King and King's did not give up.  
  
You alone across the floor  
  
You and me and nothing more  
  
You're the great mistake I never made  
  
The dreams didn't want to fade and sometimes the dreams were all that kept him sane. A crystal ball room and a beautiful young girl on the border of becoming a woman. A King, dressed in his finest, watching her move through the room, waiting for the perfect moment to make his move and sweep her into his arms. He wanted to live in that dream and never leave. Reality be damned.  
  
I never lied to you, I hated when you lied  
  
But I'll survive your naked eyes  
  
He had never lied to her. He was everything she wanted him to be and more. He would have offered her the dreams she wanted. He would have been her slave if only she had stayed with him. He would have done anything for her.. Anything...  
  
But she had lied to him. She lied to herself when she spoke those words. She was frightened and misguided. She was too young to understand. It wasn't a game in the end. He didn't want her brother...he wanted her..  
  
But she was gone now. And she had been gone for years. For 20 long years he had thought about her. Still pining for her and the love he would never receive from her. But he lived on. He was a King after all. Even if he was a Goblin King.  
  
"I'll survive..." he said softly into the night. 


	2. Seeking Help...

AN: Oh man, what have I done? I've gone and started another story is what I've done. Good grief. I just couldn't leave "Survive" the way it was. And then this idea hit me and I had to go with it.   
  
Disclaimers: I don't own own anyone in the Labyrinth realm. Jim Henson, Productions does. Lucky people...  
  
Seeking Help...  
  
  
She held the faded cranberry book to her chest and took one last quick glance at the other book in her lap. She closed her eyes and tried desperately to block out the sound of crying that filtered up the stairs into the attic. Again she was crying and this was the only think she could think of. Only he could help her heal. Only he could make her happy again.   
  
She clutched the book so tightly in her hands that her knuckles turned white. She took a deep breath, eyes still closed, her long dark hair cascading down her shoulders. She tried with every fiber of her being to believe. To believe that everything that she had read was real. That he was real. She took another deep breath and opened her mouth to speak.   
  
"I don't know if you can hear me. I don't even know if you are real. But I wish that the Goblin King would come to me.....right now! Please?" she added for good measure.  
  
  
  
Jareth heard someone summoning him. Occasionally someone would summon him. Some poor soul wishing for their brother or sister back. Wanting to challenge his Labyrinth again so that they could regain what they had lost. It struck him as amusing that only the ones who lost ever called for him. But then again only one had ever defeated him and she had never called again.   
  
The voice seemed to echo on the wind. The wind that brushed against his face, blowing his silky blond hair back from his face. He listened to the voice and realized it was a voice he did not recognize, yet there was something very familiar about it. He closed his eyes, listening to the voice over and over again, trying to figure out why it should be familiar. It was nagging him. He couldn't figure the voice out and that was disturbing to him. In seconds he was no longer a shadow against a full moon, he was an owl as white as snow.   
  
  
She let the book fall from her grasp and she was ready to begin crying herself. She could still hear the sobs coming from downstairs. She had failed. It was the only thing she could do to help her and she had failed. Tears filled her green eyes as she rose from sitting indian style on the old creaky floors of the attic. She had failed. Angrily she tossed the cranberry book across the attic where it hit the low, sloping ceiling with a thud. She was getting ready to throw the other book too when a wind swept through the attic. She could hear the rustling of what sounded like clothing behind her and she turned very slowly.   
  
She gasped, dropping the book on the floor at her feet. He stood tall and menacing with a look of royalty and arrogance to him. He was beautiful with his pale, glittery skin that looked as smooth as fine porcelain, his wild, blond hair that cascaded down his shoulders in varying lengths. He was dressed in black. A black open fronted silk shirt with a ruffly collar and some strange metal object dangled over the pale flesh of his chest. A high leather collar around his neck with a cape that tapered from it. The cape was black on the outside, with different lengths of fabric and the inside was a shimmering dark turquoise. He wore tight black pants that were tucked into shiny knee high black boots. His hands were encased in black leather. His brows tilted up at the ends with pale pink makeup between the ends of the brows and the triangles of black that extended up from the corner of each eye. And his eyes...one was a crystal blue and the other was hazel. They widened as he gazed down at her. The descriptions in the cranberry book failed miserably when it came to describing him. Only the faded blue book with bent corners from being shoved too quickly into dresser drawings came close the describing the man who stood before her.   
  
His eyes widened as he took in her appearance and his breath caught in his throat. Standing before him, but so much younger, was nearly an exact copy of the girl who had once defeated him. The girl who had stolen his heart and left him to spend the past twenty years alone in grief, striving to survive. But this was not her. There were subtle differences is his memory served him well, but there was no mistaking that this girl looked almost exactly like Sarah.... 


	3. Mommy look who I brought home...

AN: kmf: Survive was intended to be just a one shot, one chapter story. But these characters have minds of their own! So it ended up becoming a bit more. A bit different then my other Laby story. I needed a little break anyhow. Baloo: You'll see what happens! I'm not going to spoil anything just yet!  
  
Thanks to everyone for the reviews! Keep 'em coming.   
  
Disclaimers: I don't own the Goblin King or Sarah or the Labyrinth. Aryanna is my creation however.   
  
"Mommy look who I brought home...  
  
  
"You're him. You're the Goblin King." Words uttered so long ago, said again. But there was no fear that accompanied the words this time around. He studied her. The same long dark tresses, those same haunting eyes, filled with the same strength and determination. The child before him seemed to be on a quest. A quest for him it seemed.   
  
He nodded slowly, never letting his eyes drift from her form. She was much younger then Sarah. Had time somehow been reordered aboveground? No..she wasn't Sarah. There were differences. She didn't have quite the same nose and she was thinner then Sarah had been. His eyes widened in surprise when the child stepped forward. She was a brave little thing and she couldn't be more then 7 or 8 years old. Such strength and courage in one so young.   
  
"I know what your job is, but I was hoping you wouldn't do that right now."  
  
An elegant eyebrow arched up. "And what is it exactly that I do?"   
  
"You steal little children."  
  
"What makes you think I won't 'steal' you?" He put his hands on his hips seeing if he could frighten her. It didn't work. She only stepped closer to him.   
  
"Because I didn't call you to take me away. I called you to come visit me."  
  
"And what could a little thing like you, want with me?" He tilted his head to the side, regarding the child before him.   
  
The child bent down picking up a faded blue hardcover book. The edges were bent and there were scratches and marks on the glossy cover. There were faded stickers on the book, of unicorns, dragons and castles, with brown along the edges of them where dirt and dust had caught and stayed over the years.   
  
"I don't need you, but someone very important to me does. She won't stop crying. She's sad all the time. Sometimes I can make her smile or laugh but it doesn't last. She used to be so strong..." She seemed a little nervous and The Goblin King was amused and perplexed by this. She flipped nervously through the pages of the book. "Please will you help her? You can make her happy again."  
  
"I don't exist to make people happy. I exist to frighten them."  
  
"And you did frighten her once, a long time ago. But she's a grownd up now and she won't be frightened anymore. Besides she loves you..."  
  
"No one loves me." He said harshly.   
  
"She does too. I read it here in this book." She held up the faded book in her hands and Jareth suddenly realized that it was a diary.  
  
"You shouldn't be snooping in things that don't belong to you." Jareth scolded her even though her words excited and frightened him.   
  
"I didn't mean to snoop, honest. I came to look for something to make her happy and I found the books."  
  
"Who do you speak of? Who do you want me to help?" He asked tilting his head back and peering down at her along the length of his nose.   
  
She took a deep breath. "My mommy."  
  
"And who is your mother?"  
  
"The one who beat your labyrinth to get my Uncle Toby back. Her name is Sarah."  
  
A shuddering breath escaped the Goblin King's lips before he could stop it. If the child noticed his reaction she didn't acknowledge it. She simply stepped forward and took one of his hands into hers as if it was the most natural gesture in the world. She tugged on his hand, attempting to pull him with her towards the ladder that dropped down from the dark attic to the light of the hallway at the bottom of it. Jareth planted his feet firmly, his mind filled with images of the past and the little girl's words that kept echoing through his mind over and over again. * She loves you... *   
  
"C'mon." the child said a little too whinny. " She'll be so happy to see you again."  
  
The Goblin King shook his head, his blond hair swirling around him like a golden mane in the wind. The child obviously cared for her mother and believed that by bringing the Goblin King back into her life would make her happy again. Her mother... Sarah. His Sarah. The very one who still haunted his dreams every night. The same Sarah his heart longed for, even after 20 years.   
  
"She will not be happy to see me. She could not possibly feel anything other then bitter hate for me." He was still shaking his head, trying to force himself to believe that Sarah could never love him. It just wasn't possible.   
  
"She doesn't hate you. Well she didn't like you very much at first but as she got older she loved you."  
  
"No." he told her.  
  
"Yes. Would you like to read it for yourself?" She offered the book to him.   
  
He shook his head at her, backing away from the book as if it were some dangerous magical talisman. "I will not read the book. It wasn't meant to be read by anyone other then the one who wrote in it."  
  
"How do you know that?"   
  
"Do you know what a Diary is?" She shook her head. He should have expected as much. "It's a book that people write in to get their thoughts out of their mind. It comforts many to write something that troubles them, or excites them. It's a private book, not meant to be read by other people."  
  
"Oh. I told you I didn't mean to."  
  
"Regardless, you still read it and now you are trying to get me to read it."  
  
"I'm sorry. I'll put it away before mommy gets mad." She walked over to a small wooden chest and opened it. He noticed that it was filled with many old things from Sarah's room. Things he recognized from her childhood. The music box with the dancing girl, her stuffed animals and many of her books. She had obviously closed that chapter of her life, by putting those things in the chest. He was certain she would not wish to see him again.   
  
He felt the tugging on his hand again and he looked down to see that the little girl was again trying to get him to follow her. He didn't want to go, yet he did. He longed to see Sarah again, yet he was afraid. Afraid? The Goblin King should fear nothing, especially a depressed mortal woman.   
  
"What is your name?" he asked stalling her.  
  
"Aryanna."  
  
He mouthed the name. It was definitely a name he would imagine that Sarah would name a child of hers. Obviously she had not given up completely on fantasy. He peered down at the little girl who still held his hand and was not frightened of him in the least. She was a beautiful child, who had many of her mother's characteristics, yet she was her own person. She no doubt looked like her father as well. Her father. The Goblin King suddenly envied the man who had fathered the child that held his hand, whoever he was. He would have given anything to be that man. The thought startled him but he didn't deny it.   
  
"Why is your mother sad?"  
  
"Because of lots of things."  
  
"Name them."  
  
Aryanna let go of his hand and made a gesture that she was thinking very hard. "Well...daddy left her for one."  
  
One of his brows rose. "Your father left her?"  
  
"Mmm hmm. Before I was borned. She said that she didn't try hard enough and that she made mistakes that made him go away. But Uncle Toby says it wasn't her fault. He couldn't handle re...resp..."  
  
"Responsibility." He finished for her.  
  
"yeah! How did you know?"  
  
"Call it a lucky guess." He didn't envy the man anymore. What a foolish, foolish mortal. To leave the most incredible woman in two worlds. He had no doubt left Sarah after he realized that she was pregnant with his child. It wasn't unheard of, it sometimes happened within his own realm.   
  
"And she says that we never have enough money. She works all the time and there is never enough money. She's afraid that we're going to lose the house. This was Grammy and Grandpa's house before they went to heaven. They left it to mommy. And...she has problems with the people at work. Oh yeah and the car keeps breaking down. It's really old but it's alls we got. And I think she's lonely and I don't know why because I'm here and Uncle Toby comes to visit all the time with Cheryl. That's his girlfriend. Mommy says they might get married soon and that I will be the flower girl."   
  
He missed everything she said after the words. 'I think she's lonely.' He should have enjoyed gaining that information. It meant that Sarah's life wasn't the perfect little fairy tale she wanted it to be. She had suffered as he had. But the words upset him more then made him feel better.   
  
"Where is she?" he asked quietly.   
  
Aryanna stopped her rambling and looked up at the Goblin King. "She's in the living room. She always sits in the big rocking chair and cries. Sometimes she falls asleep there. But she's not asleep yet, because I can still hear her crying."  
  
"Take me to her." He commanded. He didn't have to offer her his hand because she snatched it eagerly, pulling him down the stairs of the ladder with her. He could hear the sniffling noises as they entered the lighted hallway. They passed by one room with the door slightly ajar that made him stop dead in his tracks. 20 years ago he had entered that room to challenge Sarah.  
  
Aryanna tugged at his hand and he followed her once again. They walked down the creaky blue carpeted stairs that led to the first level of the house. He stopped dead in his tracks as they ventured near the doorway to the room he knew would be the living room. He put a finger to his lips so that the child would keep quiet. He peered very slowly into the room and he felt his heart leap into his throat.   
  
She was there, rocking ever so slightly in a large oak rocking chair with a floral cushion tied to the seat. Her hair was still long and dark, pulled half up. She was much thinner then he remembered and it was no doubt due to the stress she had faced.   
  
"Wait here." Aryanna whispered to him and before he could stop her, she rushed away from him and into the room.   
  
"Mommy mommy, I have something I want to show you." The little girl stepped in front of her mother.  
  
Sarah extended a hand and smoothed back her daughter's dark hair from her face. "Not now, sweetie. Mommy needs to be alone, ok? Why don't you go watch some tv?"  
  
"Ok, but first I have to show you something. Stay here and don't peek ok?" Sarah nodded ever so slightly and peered out the bay window to her right. Aryanna rushed from the room and took a hold of the Goblin King's hand. His heart was thundering in his chest like a herd of wild horses. He feared what her reaction to him would be. He feared what his own reaction would be to seeing her again.   
  
"Ok Mommy, you can look now. Look who I brought to cheer you up." Sarah turned and her eyes widened. There standing in her living room with her daughter holding his hand, was the Goblin King. 


	4. Lost Strength & Bedtime Stories...

AN: I'm so glad that everyone is enjoying this story! Kmf, oh boy! You were turning purple during the debt and now you are banging your head on the desk. I can't help it though. Gotta leave those cliffhanger endings. It's part of writing! Please keep those reviews coming everyone!  
  
Lost strength and bedtime stories....  
  
Sarah rubbed at her eyes viciously. She couldn't believe whom she saw standing before her. Aryanna looked quite pleased with herself.  
  
"I'm going to watch tv now. Bye!" She let go of his hand quickly and rushed from the room, leaving the Goblin King with a desperate look on his face.   
  
He turned back to Sarah who had risen from the chair with a look of disbelief plastered on her face. Her eyes moved over him, with sadness in them. He looked exactly the same as she remembered him. Except his eyes. Instead of mirroring his arrogant stance and appearance, they were full of sorrow. The sorrow of a King who had spent the last 20 years bitter with the fact that he had been left alone.   
  
"Hello Sarah. It's been a long time." He whispered softly. His voice was arrogant and crisp as well but she looked past that. All she could see was the sorrow in his mismatched eyes. They betrayed him by showing her what he actually felt and not what he falsely projected.   
  
"How...why?" She looked utterly confused and that surprised him. He expected anger, insults and threats to come forth from her. She suddenly looked horrified. "Oh no, please tell me that you aren't here for Ary. Please no..."  
  
He shook his head. "I'm not here for your daughter. I'm here for you Sarah." His voice was calm and the arrogance had disappeared.  
  
"I...I don't understand." She stared at him through puffy red eyes. Eyes that had cried too many tears over the past several years.   
  
"Your daughter asked me to come...She wanted me to help you."  
  
"Help me?" He nodded ever so slightly. "Help me with what?"  
  
"Help make you happy again, is what she wished."  
  
Despite herself Sarah smiled. "That's my baby. Always trying to make me happy."  
  
"She is worried about you Sarah.." * and so am I... *  
  
"Yes, she's a little worry wart."  
  
"I can understand why." He paused and allowed his stance to soften. "You have been troubled the last few years."  
  
Sarah sighed and took a seat in a soft looking recliner. She pinched her nose and began to speak as if having the Goblin King standing in her living room was a completely normal thing. "Troubled doesn't nearly cover it." Another headache pounded in her head. She'd stopped taking Tylenol and Advil long ago. They did nothing to help her. Soft leather brushed across her face and the pain was suddenly gone. She opened her eyes to find him standing above her, directly on the side of the chair. He looked worried.   
  
"You've gotten so very thin. And where is your fire and spirit Sarah?" He cocked his head to the side regarding her thoughtfully.  
  
"They burned out a long time ago." She admitted truthfully and bitterly.   
  
"Apparently they have. You've not even shouted at me or insulted me."  
  
"Should I insult you? Should I yell at you? I'm not a child Goblin King. Not any longer. I had to grow up a eventually."  
  
"Jareth." He said softly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"My name is Jareth. It always annoyed me when you called me by title."  
  
"Jareth..." she let the name roll from her tongue. "I remember it now. It feels like so long ago."  
  
"It was..." he whispered softly.  
  
"What have you been doing for the last 20 years? Still snatching unwanted children?"  
  
He nodded. "Very few have run the Labyrinth since you. No one believes anymore. It has been a lonely existence" She noticed the sadness in his voice and she actually felt sorry for him.   
  
"I know how that feels." She admitted to him, not sure why.  
  
"I know..." he whispered. He gently touched her face with one hand, sweeping back the dark hair that still reached well past her shoulders. He noticed a few silver hairs mixed with the dark locks but they did not detract from her beauty. To him she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.   
  
"Aryanna.." was all that she said. She closed her eyes and allowed her face to fall into the palm of his hand, not sure why she had done that either.   
  
"Yes...she has brought me up to date." His voice was a whisper.   
  
"Brat.."   
  
"She is a wonderful child and so much like her mother that I thought time had been re altered and it was you I saw standing before me. Her father did not truly understand what he was leaving behind..."  
  
She didn't miss the double meaning in his words. Not only did he mean Aryanna but herself as well. She pulled away from his touch and pulled her knees up to her chin with a heavy sigh. Jareth withdrew giving her the space she obviously wanted. He silently cursed himself for saying too much.   
  
"Why are you here Jareth?" He loved the way she said his name....  
  
'I told you. I'm here to make you happy again."  
  
She rolled her eyes and he sensed that the old Sarah was not lost, but buried deep within. "That's not a reason."  
  
"Oh but it is. It is the reason that I am here. Your daughter said I made you happy once and she believes that I can do it again."  
  
"She obviously made that up. How would she know what makes me happy?"  
  
"Because she read your own words, from long ago."  
  
Sarah's eyes widened. "She found my diary." He nodded. "Oh god, she didn't." He nodded again. "Please tell me that you didn't read it."  
  
He couldn't help but grin devilishly, stringing her along and then he shook his head. "I didn't read it. She tried to get me to and as tempted as I was, I explained to her that she should not have gone snooping. She assures me that it was an accident. It is true?"  
  
"Is what true?" She breathed a sigh of relief that the Goblin King had not read her diary. Her daughter would get a stern talking to later. That much was sure.   
  
He knelt beside the chair, looking up at her. "That I made you happy...that you...that you once loved me." His mismatched eyes focused on her and she couldn't help but notice how handsome he really was. That blond hair framing his pale sculptured face, those eyes, so mesmerizing. His tall slender body a mere foot from her. The pale flesh of his chest exposed for her greedy eyes to take in.   
  
She turned violently away from him, gripping her legs tightly to herself after she felt the warmth of a blush burn her cheeks. "That was a long time ago, Jareth. When I was young, alone and didn't understand what love was." She caught the look of hurt in his eyes.  
  
"And now...Now that you're older?" He licked his lips when after they had suddenly become dry. She had not missed the hope in his voice. No way, he couldn't? He couldn't possibly feel something for her? Could he? That just wasn't possible.   
  
"Now that I'm older that's all I am older. And tired and sick of all the crap that's been thrown my way. I'm 35 and I feel like I should be 85."  
  
"You don't even look 35." There was that soft leather on her face again, smoothing her dark hair back and brushing it lightly behind her ear. "You look more beautiful now then you did at 15."   
  
Tears clouded her eyes as he continued to caress her hair and face so gently. One escaped down her cheek and he moved to wipe it away. She began to sob softly and that startled him. She was too proud to cry, too strong. He knelt in front of her, taking her hands into his and pulled her toward him. And suddenly she was in his arms, her face buried with in the soft ruffles of his shirt, her arms around his waist, clutching him to her.   
  
Jareth was shocked momentarily by her sudden actions. He had not expected her to break down so quickly and in front of him no less. She was always so strong. It only proved to show that she had been through so much in the last 20 years.   
  
She felt his arms draw her closer to him. He offered her the warmth, the protection that she had been denied for so many years. Adam would never have held her like this. The sobs that escaped her were loud and ugly. They were the sobs of someone so close to mental and physical collapse. Someone on the verge of giving up on the hope of anything good ever happening again. She trembled in his arms as he stroked her hair and placed kisses in the soft locks.   
  
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He whispered into her hair. "I should not have been so selfish, I shouldn't have let you fall so far.."  
  
She clutched him to her even tighter at his words. Her knees buckled as the last of her strength failed her and he caught her gracefully in his arms, cradling her against him like a baby as he moved to the couch, sitting with her in his lap. She sobbed softly against him. He continued to hold her, doing his best to comfort her with gentle touches and soft words. Soon the sobbing subsided and he glanced down to see that she was fast asleep. Jareth sighed grateful that sleep had claimed her. She needed her rest. He didn't know how much time had passed but he was sure that it had grown late.   
  
He heard footsteps and turned to see Aryanna standing in the doorway. He put a finger to his lips. "She's sleeping." He whispered.   
  
"Mommy will be mad if she knew that I was still up. Can you tuck me in?" The little girl stood before him in light blue flannel pajamas with yellow moons and white clouds printed on them. She held a very old, worn and apparently loved teddy bear in her arms.  
  
"What?" He asked. Surely she didn't expect him to..?  
  
"Tuck me into bed. Mommy usually does it but she's sleeping before me." The child did expect him to bring her up to bed. Hardly an appropriate job for the Goblin King, but he nodded to her none the less.   
  
He carefully laid Sarah down on the soft cushions of the couch. He followed the little girl up the blue carpeted stairs and into her bedroom. He smiled seeing stuffed unicorns and books about fairy tales. Like mother, like daughter.   
  
Aryanna jumped on her bed and pulled the covers down. Jareth moved slowly to the side of the bed and pulled the covers up over the little girl, covering both her and the bear with the flannel sheets and soft quilt. "G'night." He told her reaching for the pull chain on the lamp beside her bed.   
  
"Wait, you have to tell me a story. Mommy always tells me a bedtime story." He sighed and nodded. By the bog this child was demanding. Yet he found her irresistible, just like her mother. A bedtime story. What could he tell this child? Certainly not tales of his pathetic goblins?  
  
He sat on the edge of the bed and folded his hands on his lap. "There was once a King who ruled over his land with an iron fist. He didn't tolerate anyone disobeying him. Those who disobeyed were cast out into a swamp that smelled so badly, not even toads, and snails and salamanders would live there. If you touched the waters of the swamp you would smell bad for the rest of your life."  
  
"Eww!" Aryanna cried out.   
  
Jareth grinned. "You see this King was very bitter and commanded domainance, but because he did so he forced everyone away from him. No one truly knew what he was like and over time he became very lonely. He had lived that way for hundreds of years."  
  
"Hundreds of years?" Aryanna echoed.   
  
"Are you going to let me finish the story or are you going to keep interrupting me?" She wanted a story and now she wouldn't let him tell it!  
  
"I'm sorry, but hundreds of years? Can people live that long?" She looked at him with her wide green eyes.  
  
Jareth let out a sigh and the little girl allowed him to continue. "Anyway, the king lived that way for a very long time. He was spoiled and used to getting whatever he wanted. He had everything in his life, but he didn't have love. He didn't know what love was. He had heard about it, but never felt if for anyone else."  
  
"Everyone knows how to love." Jareth flashed her a look. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Well this King didn't know how to love. In fact when love touched him he used all his magic to make it go away. But he couldn't. You see a young girl had entered his kingdom. One who had a will as great as his own. She was very beautiful and smart and the King fell in love with her even though he didn't want to. But it was sad because the King didn't know how to show the girl that he loved her. He tried to win her over but he went about things the wrong way and the girl thought his feelings were part of a game. So the girl never knew what the King truly felt for her."  
  
"That's so sad. Oops..." She hugged her teddy bear and Jareth continued.  
  
"She went far, far away and the King never saw her again. But that didn't mean that he gave up loving her even when many years went by. And he lived only surviving because of his memories of her."  
  
"What's the moral of the story? What's the moral?" she asked jumping up and down on her bed with her knees. "Mommy always tell me the moral."  
  
Jareth tapped one gloved finger against his lips in thought. "I suppose the moral is, never give up because you never know what the future may hold." He reached for the covers pulling them over her again. "Now go to sleep."  
  
"Ok. G'night Goblin King." She rolled over pulling her blankets up to her chin.  
  
"G'night Aryanna. Don't let the goblins bite." He pulled the chain on the lamp and the room was bathed in darkness.  
  
"Goblins bite?"  
  
"G'night Aryanna."  
  
Sarah crept quietly down the hall away from the room. Had the Goblin King just tucked her daughter into bed and told her a bedtime story? Had that story been about them? Did he really love her? Her head was throbbing from a new headache and she returned to the couch in the living room. She was already asleep by the time Jareth returned to watch over her. 


	5. Simple Conversations...

AN: I'm so happy that everyone is enjoying this story. I must admit that it is a nice little break from writing "Vendetta" I'll resume writing that again soon to those who are reading that story. There is just so much to think up and I want it to be perfect. So while everyone waits, I'll be working on this story. Enjoy, please R/R!!  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own much, just Aryanna, I'm not making a profit from this story, so don't sue me. I don't have much to give you anyway. Just a beat up 89 Chevy Pick-up.   
  
Simple Conversations...  
  
Sarah awakened and rubbed her eyes. Talk about a strange dream! The Goblin King coming back and tucking her daughter in. She shook her head and laughed at the thought. She stumbled into the kitchen shielding the bright sunlight that entered the windows from her eyes.   
  
"Good morning Sarah. Sleep well?" That voice. She dropped her hand away from her eyes and stared wide eyed at the scene before her. The Goblin King was leaning against her kitchen counter. Dressed completely in black, one leg crossed over the other. Her daughter was sitting at the kitchen table with an empty bowl of cereal beside her, a coloring book and crayons and was coloring away.   
  
"It wasn't a dream. You really did show up last night." She let out softly.   
  
He smiled at her confusion.   
  
"The Goblin King tucked me in last night mommy. You were sleeping on the couch so he tucked me in and told me a story."  
  
"Did he?" She took a seat at the table across from her daughter. Her daughter nodded furiously.  
  
"Did you sleep well mommy?"  
  
"Very well sweetie. Better then I have in years."  
  
"I knew he could help! I just knew it!" Aryanna chanted happily. Sarah smiled lazily at her daughter and looked up at Jareth who was still leaning against the counter.   
  
"You even gave her breakfast." She commented.   
  
Jareth nodded and let an amused smile play across his lips. "She was hungry and wanted to wake you but I wouldn't allow it. It wasn't too difficult to get the box from the cupboard , put the cereal in a bowl and fill it with milk. I allowed her to color so that she would keep quiet and not disturb you."  
  
"Thank you. Oh what time is it?" She glanced up at the clock on the oven. "Go get dressed sweetie. The bus will be here in 20 minutes. Go brush your teeth too."  
  
"Aw do I have to go to school? Can't I stay home and hang out with you and the Goblin King?"  
  
'No, you're going to school. Maybe if you have a good day at school he will still be here when you come home."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Of course." Jareth told her. "But you must have a good day at school."  
  
"Oh I will, I will!" She rushed quickly from the table and up the stairs. She dressed and brushed her teeth and Sarah styled her hair. She grabbed her coat and backpack and Jareth stood in the bay window watching Sarah bring her out to the bus.   
  
She reentered the house and closed the front door behind her. "She is such a wonderful little child. Too bad that more like her did not enter my Labyrinth."  
  
"Don't get any ideas." Sarah pointed an accusing finger at him and he laughed.   
  
"I wouldn't dare. Breakfast?"  
  
She shook her head. "No I'm fine. I usually don't eat breakfast."  
  
"Well you should. You are entirely too thin."  
  
"No really I'm fine. I'll have something later." She entered the kitchen and put Aryanna's dirty cereal bowl and spoon into the sink and filled the bowl with water. She turned around to see Jareth finish clearing the coloring book and crayons, returning them to the small table beneath the kitchen phone. She gave him a lazy smile and he returned it. He looked so handsome when he smiled. Then she thought about her own appearance. She must look like hell! "I'm going to take a shower and make myself a little more presentable."  
  
He nodded and she left the kitchen hardly believing what had happened over the course of last night and this morning. Had the Goblin King, Jareth really returned after all this time? Was he here because her daughter had summoned him to help her?  
  
She returned a half hour later to find him sitting at the kitchen table, glancing at everything in the room. She took a seat beside him, pulling one sock onto her foot. She regarded him nervously. "Umm, thanks for last night. I probably scared you with how I was acting. Not what you remember I'm sure."  
  
"No you didn't scare me, just worried me. This is all my fault."  
  
"Jareth please, how could any of this be YOUR fault? Did you tell my fiancé to leave me? Did you tell my co workers to make my life a miserable hell? Did you make my car break down 3 times a week? No you didn't."  
  
"But I should have checked in on you. I should have stopped you from falling so far."  
  
She shook her head. "That wasn't your responsibility. I was a big girl who could take care of herself. As far as I knew, you hated me. Why would you come help me?"  
  
"I never hated you Sarah. I was angry with you for a long time, but I never hated you."  
  
"You should have." She said pulling the other sock onto her foot. " I was a spoiled little bitch to you."  
  
"Don't say such things. You merely played out your part. I should have expected no less."  
  
"Did you mean what you told Ary last night?" She took a deep breath lowering her feet to the floor. "Did you love me back then?"  
  
Jareth froze and she cursed herself. He was regressing back to the arrogant Goblin King right before her eyes.   
  
"It's ok, you don't have to answer that. I had no right to ask you."  
  
"How do you know what I told Ary?"  
  
"I heard you from in the hall. I woke up and went to check on her and I found you telling her a bedtime story."  
  
"How do you know it was about us?"  
  
"Lucky guess. Too many coincidences in that story. It's ok, you don't have to answer me."  
  
"I never stopped loving you from the moment love took a hold of me." He whispered softly.  
  
Sarah's jaw dropped. "So you did love me? That whole speech before I defeated you wasn't part of the game was it?" He shook his head sadly. "Oh god." One hand flew up to cover her mouth. "I'm so sorry! There you were trying to tell me you loved me and I practically spit in your face."  
  
"It's all right. I didn't exactly go about things the right way and you were too young to understand." He leaned closer to her, lowering his voice as he spoke. "Did you love me back then as Ary believes you did?"  
  
"She is a perceptive little brat." She allowed.   
  
"I'll take that as a yes?" he said cocking his head to one side. She nodded. He couldn't believe how she had matured over the years. She had not yelled at him once, had not even tried to claim that things had been unfair. She didn't claim to hate him. As he waited for her to answer him, he realized that he had fallen in love with her all over again.   
  
"I did for a while, but then...then I grew up. I graduated high school, went to college, met Adam. Then I fell in love with him. Biggest mistake of my life." She said smoothing her fingers over the polyurethane coating on the wood table.  
  
"Hardly. He gave you a beautiful and intelligent child."  
  
"Yeah he did. But he didn't want anything to do with her, the bastard. He was gone the minute he found out that I was pregnant. He left me a pathetic note saying he wasn't ready for commitment to me or a child. I never heard from him again."  
  
"I'm sorry." His voice was full of genuine sympathy.   
  
"Don't be. He's not even worth thinking about." She swatted blindly at the air.  
  
"So you've been alone all this time? Raising Ary all by yourself?" She nodded and traced her fingers along a knot in the wood of the table.  
  
"My father and stepmother helped whenever they could. But then they passed away 3 years ago. My brother and his girlfriend take her every other weekend. So I have had a little help, but I've raised her mostly alone."  
  
"You did a wonderful job and you should be proud of yourself. She is a wonderful little girl who loves her mother very much."  
  
"Thank you. I forget what compliments are sometimes since I never receive them."  
  
"You deserve many." He reached for her, and a gloved hand buried itself into her damp hair. She closed her eyes and savored the touch. It had been so long since anyone had given her any attention. She didn't date after Adam. No one wanted to date a woman with a baby anyway. It should have felt so very strange to have the Goblin King in her kitchen, dressed in his strange clothing, allowing him to caress her face. But it wasn't strange. Not in the slightest. He grew a little bolder with his touches, his fingers moving along her neck and her collar bone. She let her head fall back, eyes still closed.   
  
Somehow they were both standing, though neither of them remembered getting up from their chairs. Jareth reached for her pulling her into his arms and just held her. She didn't cry but merely held onto him as if her life depended on it. Her fingers wrapped around the silk ruffles of his collar. She could feel the warmth of his chest against her cheek. The warmth of his body that was pressed against hers. It made her realize that he was real and he always had been real.   
  
He stood and held her. He would not do anything more. She was still hurting and he refused to take advantage of her. She wasn't a one night stand, or a fling. He was here to help her and he would... 


	6. This can't be real...

AN: Here's the next bit. Sorry so short. Don't worry the next chapter is a bit longer. Thank you to my reviewers, keep 'em coming:  
  
Disclaimers: See the other chapters...  
  
This can't be real...  
  
Sarah regained her composure quickly, much to Jareth's dismay. She backed away from him and he felt his heart sink.   
  
"I.." She started but she couldn't think of anything to say. She was beginning to come to her senses, realizing that she had been in Jareth's arms. Jareth the Goblin King. Now that certainly didn't make sense.  
  
He didn't say anything to her, just looked at her with sorrow filled eyes. Why was she suddenly pulling away from him? Things had been going so smoothly...  
  
"I have to be dreaming.. this isn't real. It's too perfect, too weird. It's an illusion." She said, refusing to look at him. "I'm still in the rocking chair. That's what's real, this... this isn't." She shook her head, trying to convince herself.  
  
Jareth let out a deep sigh.   
  
"The Goblin King doesn't show up in my living room holding my little girl's hand and he certainly doesn't tuck her into bed, tell her a story and give her breakfast the following morning. I'm dreaming...I'm...definitely...dreaming."  
  
"You're not dreaming." He said softly.   
  
"Yes..I am!" Her voice rose in volume and for the first time since Jareth had been in her presence he sensed some of the old Sarah returning. "The Goblin King I know would never do those things."  
  
"Can you be so sure?" He stepped closer to her and she could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek.   
  
"YES! He was cold and sinister, manipulative, arrogant. He would never do these things."  
  
"People change Sarah. Haven't you, yourself changed from what you once were? You don't appear to be the naïve, spoiled but also adventurous teenager that I remember, which is of course normal. As you said, you grew up and in the process you changed and matured. And when trouble came your way and it became too much of a burden you changed again. Hiding your spirit, your invincible will somewhere deep within you. So is it so hard to believe that I have changed as well? I may appear to be arrogant and cold sometimes but that is not all that I am. I have changed and it was you who brought that change to me.."  
  
"No..he couldn't change, it's not possible."  
  
"Why are you talking about me as if I was not here?" The first real anger in his voice since he had entered this house.  
  
"You're not! This isn't real!" She gestured to everything and backed away from him, bumping into the kitchen wall. She buried her face into her hands.   
  
Jareth realized this was a crucial point. He had to make her believe that everything happening was real, that he was real. She was repressing her emotions, trying to hide within the hole she had dug for herself. The hole that she escaped to when she had not been able to deal with things over the last several years. He would find that hole and he would fill it with as much dirt as he could. He'd build a mountain over it. He wouldn't let her escape into it anymore.   
  
"Look at me Sarah. Please." When she didn't respond, he gently pried her hands from her face. She was not crying but she looked helplessly lost. He took one hand and put it against his chest. She could feel the rythmic beating of his heart beneath her palm. "What do you feel Sarah?...tell me."  
  
She remained silent for a moment, her hand lingering over the warm pale flesh.   
  
"What do you feel?" he asked again. His voice was painfully soft, his breath sweet and warm on her face.   
  
"I feel..a heartbeat." She said softly.   
  
He reached for her hand and brought it slowly to his lips, placing light kisses on the skin.   
  
"I'm real Sarah. I always have been and I always will be and I am here to help you. I'm not leaving until I accomplish my task. There is a little girl who summoned me here to help her mother and that is exactly what I intend to do. I will not let her down."  
  
She surprised him when she pulled her hand from his and reached up gently touching his hair. The blond hair was smooth and silky and so very soft. Like a child's fine hair. He studied her with his eyes, watching her. Her gaze didn't meet his, she was watching her fingers entwine in his hair. He didn't move, and if he could have, he would have stopped breathing. He would let her set the pace to whatever the future had in store. He had already decided that he would not push his feelings on her. He wasn't here to reclaim her or try to wisk her away to his castle. This wasn't revenge and it wasn't salvation.   
  
He would help her and her daughter survive and try to restore happiness in her life. If love was found along the way, then so be it, but if it wasn't, then that's the way things went. He would be content with the gift that a little girl had given him. For he was given time, to spend with the woman he loved and thought he would never see again. 


	7. Slowly Returning...

AN: Hello everyone. Thank you again for the wonderful reviews. I enjoy reading them so much. This chapter is quite long. Makes up for the last chapter I suppose. Enjoy.  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own Sarah or Jareth or the Labyrinth or Toby either.. I own Aryanna, Stephanie, Marcy, Jake and Jeff.  
  
Slowly returning...  
  
Sarah pulled her hand from his hair, the feel of it still making her fingers tingle. He was most definitely real. She could smell the leather of his gloves and his boots. Being so close to him she could smell some kind of soap, whatever he used to wash last time he bathed. It was amazing to her that he didn't smell anything like his goblins and the messes they left behind in his throne room. He cared about his appearance, that much was obvious. He was all dressed so regally. He was a King after all, even if at times he didn't act like one.   
  
She glanced over the shoulder at the clock on the wall. "I need to go to work."  
  
"You need to?" A brow arched elegantly over one blue eye.  
  
"Yes, or I won't be able to afford this week's groceries."  
  
"Your job makes you unhappy."  
  
"How did you guess?"  
  
"The tone of your voice." She squinted at him, trying to figure him out. He was a very strange man. Was he even a man? Maybe he was a Goblin or something... "Why don't you find another job, one that makes you happy?"  
  
"Because that's not always an easy thing to do."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because its not."  
  
"That isn't an answer."  
  
"Yes it was."  
  
"No it wasn't."  
  
"Jareth I am NOT going to argue with you."  
  
"Who's arguing?"  
  
"See, you haven't changed at all! Still as stubborn as a mule!" He grinned devilishly at her. "You're smiling because you know that I'M right."  
  
He snorted and chuckled. The old Sarah he knew of long ago was slowly surfacing. "You'd better get ready or you'll be late for work. I don't want to be responsible for that."  
  
She rolled her eyes and grabbed her coat from the hall closet. She grabbed her keys and purse and stopped when she got to the door, turning back to him. "Uh, what are you going to do all day while I'm at work?"  
  
"What's the matter Sarah, you don't trust me to take care of your home? Afraid that I might decide to indulge in some reading while you are away?" He gave her an amused smile.   
  
"Ohh, you! That's all I need is you snooping around in my house!"  
  
"Fine. If it pleases you to see me go then I will and I'll return when Ary comes home to fetch her from the bus."  
  
"It does please me to see you go. You don't have to come back either." Jareth looked hurt and she wished that she could take her words back. God she really was impulsive sometimes. "Jareth I didn't mean that, I'm sorry. You can stay." She touched her forehead suddenly feeling another headache beginning.   
  
Jareth was at her side in an instant. He removed her hand from her forehead and replaced it with his own. "You get far too many headaches." He said simply as he brushed his fingers over her skin. And the headache was gone.   
  
"Headaches are the least of my problems. Besides I'm used to them."  
  
"Is there not something in this aboveground with all it's technology and medicine that could make them go away?"  
  
"Yeah it's called Tylenol and Advil and I took them so many times that the headaches got used to them and they no longer work. So much for technology and medicine."   
  
"Here." He twisted one gloved hand and produced a perfect crystal sphere. She looked at it wide eyed. Looking at the glass sphere in his hand brought memories rushing back to her. He didn't offer it to her on an outstretched hand but put it into the palm of her hand, closing her fingers around it. "Take it with you. Anytime you feel a headache beginning to bother you, simply run your fingers over this and it will be gone. It won't be gone forever, but long enough, I have limits after all."  
  
"The Goblin King has limits...who would have thought? Thank you." She said nodding at the sphere. She squeezed it once in her palm before dropping it into her purse. She turned to the door again gripping the knob. "I didn't mean what I said before, about not coming back. Ary would be heartbroken if she came home and you weren't here. She really likes you and that...that must mean something." She looked as if she wanted to say more but she didn't say anything else about her daughter. "I'll be home at 4. I'll try to be home in time for Ary getting off the bus."  
  
"Don't rush, I can get her."  
  
"I don't know if that will be such a good idea."  
  
"And why not?" he put his hands on his hips.   
  
"No offense but you might scare the other kids on the bus senseless, not to mention the bus driver. Not everyone is as involved in fantasy as my daughter and myself. I don't think the world is ready to see the Goblin King yet."  
  
"No need to worry. Although you and Ary will see me as I truly am I will weave a little magic so that others see me as one of them. I will appear normal to them."  
  
"Really Jareth, it's ok. I can bring her in off the bus."  
  
"You don't trust me." He sounded hurt.  
  
"I do trust you, it's..."  
  
"What?"  
  
She sighed deeply. "I don't know what my neighbor's reaction will be to seeing you walk outside to get my baby girl off the school bus." She looked away from him, her cheeks reddening. "It's...it would be strange for a man who none of them have ever seen before to walk outside and bring in my little girl. I...I don't exactly have men come around very often."  
  
"You're embarrassed of me."  
  
"No. not at all. I just fear what other people might say.."  
  
"You really have changed. The Sarah I remember would not have cared what other people said."  
  
"Yeah well you weren't around when Adam left a pregnant woman alone. The people you think are your friends, sometimes....sometimes they're not."  
  
He moved closer to her, closing the gap between them. "What did they say?" his voice was soft and calm.  
  
"I'm not going to talk about this now." She threw her hands up, clearly flustered and reached for her shoes putting them on quickly. "I have to go to work. Thank you for your help last night and this morning and thank you for offering to get Ary off the bus this afternoon. I'll be home around 4 or so. If I'm late don't worry, it's because the car broke down and I had to hail a cab."  
  
He nodded. She turned the doorknob and opened the door stepping out. "You're welcome." The words trailed after her and only after the door had closed behind her did she stop and look back at the house. Strange things were definitely happening.   
  
Her car decided that today it wanted to work and she got to her job without having to call for a taxi for a ride and a tow truck to bring it to the repair shop.   
  
She worked as a secretary for a local company and when she arrived at her desk she gave her co workers a blank stare. Marcy and Stephanie were huddled near her desk looking at each other and then at her desk. Sarah nearly groaned out loud. All she needed was Stephanie and Marcy touching things on her desk and spreading rumors around the office again. Sarah swore the two women were 4 and not 44. They were interested in something on her desk and she prayed that one of the interns hadn't played another practical joke on her.   
  
"Find anything interesting ladies?" She asked as she approached them.  
  
"Actually yes!" Marcy let out. "Look what someone sent you."  
  
Sarah glanced down to see a single yellow rose sitting on her planner in the center of her desk. "It's probably another practical joke from Jeff down in accounting." She thought up quickly. She had a funny feeling where the rose came from and it wasn't Jeffrey Rogers in accounting. Even though it was a possibility.   
  
"Jeff always brings you red roses and he stopped bringing them when you told him you weren't interested in seeing him. You broke the poor guy's heart." Marcy replied.  
  
"Someone has a crush on Sarah." Stephanie said.   
  
"No on has a crush on me, ok? Why don't you leave me alone and go busy yourselves with your work. I'm not falling for your jokes or anyone else's for that matter."   
  
"Aren't you a major witch today." Marcy let out. She flipped back her short frizzy hair.  
  
"I only felt like one when I noticed the two of you by my desk again!! MY desk, not your desk, not a public desk that anyone can use, MY desk."  
  
"What the hell is your problem?" Stephanie asked putting her hands on her hips. She started chewing her gum with her mouth open and Sarah wanted to slap her.  
  
"What is my problem? My problem is the two of you! Everyday I come into work and I find the two of you fueling rumors and starting trouble. And ya know what? I don't know why I let either of you bother me because you are nothing but two faced, backstabbers who will never make anything of yourselves because you're too immature!"  
  
"Oh my gawd! That was sooo uncalled for!" Stephanie cried out.  
  
"Totally uncalled for." Marcy agreed.  
  
"Stephanie and Marcy, quit goofing around and get to work. Now!"   
  
Sarah couldn't help but smile as the head manager Jake walked by and yelled at the two women. Sarah sat in her chair and looked at the two women with a devious smile. "Busted." She let out softly. Her smile broadened when she watched the two women walk away clearly pissed off and heard a few snickers from other employees. She sighed deeply. God it had felt good to give them a piece of her mind. She wondered why she had not done it sooner. She decided she wasn't going to let them push her around anymore.   
  
She turned her attention to the rose on her desk. A perfect yellow rose with a small note attached to the bottom of it and her name written in an elegant hand on the manila paper. She opened it, glancing around to make sure that no one was watching her. Thankfully everyone had dove back into their work and she was left to do as she wished without prying eyes bothering her.   
  
'To brighten your day... Jareth" She couldn't help but smile when she read that. And did he know that she loved yellow roses? It didn't matter. The rose had brightened her day and so had Jareth's thoughtfulness.   
  
The rest of the day flew by as she worked on various reports that needed to be typed up for the company. Jake had totally surprised her when he asked her to personally type up a report for him. He never paid much attention to her but an occasional nod if he walked by. Marcy and Stephanie had not bothered her again and she couldn't help but grin when she heard two women from sales badmouthing them while she was in the bathroom. She had not even gotten a headache all day! Apparently Jareth's magic worked better then even he believed. She hadn't a use for the crystal he had given her. She would have to thank him, just as she would have to thank him for getting Ary off the bus and watching her. Typing up Jake's report had set her back an hour and half and by the time she got home, it would be later.   
  
Her car had behaved it self again and she was surprised to find that she was actually looking forward to seeing Jareth again and of course Ary. It had started to snow lightly just as she pulled into the driveway and it was already pitch black out. She hated winter. So cold and everything looked dead. She didn't like that it got dark so early either.   
  
"I'm home!" she called as she stepped into the house. The house was dark, the only light she could see on was the hall light which illuminated the stairs. "Ary?? Jareth??" She panicked when she didn't hear an answer from either of them. She dropped her purse and keys on the floor. She feared the worst. What if Jareth had lied to her and he took Ary to the Labyrinth? What if this was all some clever plot of his? God no, she couldn't deal with that... "Ary??" she called again, louder this time.   
  
"Right here mommy!" The little girl came running from the kitchen and raced to her mother hugging her tightly.   
  
"Hi Sweetie. I was worried there for a minute. You didn't answer right away. Why is the house so dark?"  
  
Aryanna smiled broadly, showing a few empty spaces where teeth had yet to grow back in. "You'll see. It's a surprise though. Take off your coat and come into the kitchen." She spun on her heal quickly, rushing back into the kitchen, giggling the entire way.  
  
Sarah couldn't help but grin at her enthusasium. She and Jareth were up to something. One could only imagine. She hung up her coat and purse in the hall closet and walked toward the kitchen. "Here I come.." she laughed. When she reached the kitchen doorway she gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth.   
  
The light over the kitchen table was dimmed. A few candles were placed in various spots in the kitchen, all giving off a soft, warm glow. The table was set with place settings for three. Her parent's best china and silverware that she only used on special occasions were laid out. In the center of the table was a vase filled with beautiful wild flowers.   
  
She looked at Jareth who was leaning against the counter again. He was dressed in a white shirt with a low neckline and ruffle collar, and a black leather vest over that. He wore black pants with his knee high black boots. He looked absolutely gorgeous in the flickering light of the candles. Aryanna was grinning from ear to ear standing beside him. She rushed forward to her mother taking her hand in hers and pulling her into the kitchen.   
  
"What's all this?" Sarah asked "Jareth?" She asked again when no one answered her.   
  
"This was your daughter's idea, Sarah."   
  
""Ary is that true?"  
  
The little girl nodded. "I wanted to help make you happy again. I thought that maybe a nice dinner would help. The Goblin King and I worked all afternoon trying to make it perfect. We cooked dinner and everything!"  
  
She shot a surprised look at Jareth. "You cooked dinner?" He merely nodded.   
  
"C'mon mommy, sit down and we'll serve you dinner."  
  
"All right, all right." Sarah laughed. She took a seat and folded a napkin over her lap. "What's for dinner?" She'd yet to see what the two of them had made. She wondered if they had actually slaved over the stove or if Jareth had used his magic. There was her stepmother's silver tray with the cover and she was dying to know what was concealed beneath it.   
  
Jareth sat himself across from Sarah and Ary took her own seat on the side of her mother. Ary reached for the lid of the tray and when she pulled it off, Sarah began to chuckle. Then she was laughing and then she was laughing so hard she was crying.   
  
There sitting on her stepmother's best silver tray was a giant pile of macaroni and cheese.   
  
Sarah fought to get herself under control. This was all too much for her. Finally she calmed down and she glanced at her daughter who had a worried look on her face.  
  
"Are you disappointed mommy? We tried to make something really good, but we couldn't get anything right. I didn't want him to use his magic. We tried to cook honest, mommy, but The Goblin King burned his hand and we couldn't find the recipe box and then.."  
  
"You burned your hand?" she looked at Jareth who nodded. He looked extremely embarrassed. Sarah couldn't help but laugh a little more. 'Oh the two of you...I'm not disappointed sweetie." She said brushing back her daughter's hair and then placing a kiss on the top of her head. "This is a perfect dinner." She glanced at Jareth and flashed him a grin. " It's very rare that I come home to find dinner ready for me. This was such a wonderful idea and I thank the both of you."  
  
"yay!! See!" she cried to Jareth. "She likes it! I knew she would and it made her laugh. I haven't heard you laugh in so long mommy."  
  
"It felt good to laugh again."  
  
"We should eat before it gets cold." Jareth told them. He served Aryanna first and then passed the tray to Sarah who took a few spoon fulls. Jareth served himself last and they began to eat. The drinks had already been poured and when Sarah took a sip of hers she realized that it was grape Kool-aid, one of Aryanna's favorites. She found herself more then once grinning as she looked down to see the macaroni on the fine china plate in front of her.   
  
Most of dinner was spent in silence as everyone dove into their dinner. Finally it was Aryanna who broke the silence.  
  
"Mommy can I bring the Goblin King in for show and tell tomorrow?"  
  
Sarah nearly choked on her food. "Ary."  
  
"What mommy? The other kids would love him. He could show us his magic."  
  
Sarah glanced at Jareth. He nodded when he saw the look on her face. "I don't think that would be a very good idea." The little girl looked like she was going to pout. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you bring this in for show and tell?" He produced a crystal sphere, which he offered her.   
  
"WOW!! What does it do?"  
  
"If you look into it, it will show you your dreams." Sarah winced at his words. Had it really been 20 years ago that she had heard them? "Look into it, Ary, what do you see?"  
  
The little girl looked into it and gasped. "What is it Ary? What do you see?" Sarah was suddenly afraid.   
  
'I can't tell you mommy. My dreams are like a wish. I can't tell anyone or they won't come true. You taught me that remember?"  
  
"Yes I did." Aryanna opened her mouth and a loud yawn escape. "Hmm mmm. Someone is a tired little girl because she stayed up too late last night. Go on, go change into your pj's and brush your teeth and I'll be up in a minute to tell you a bedtime story and tuck you in."  
  
"Ok Mommy. G'night Goblin King."  
  
"Good Night Aryanna." Sarah and Jareth both watched the little girl run up the stairs to get ready for bed.   
  
Sarah turned to Jareth. "Thank you for everything."  
  
"You're welcome." He said softly.   
  
Sarah reached for her plate and glass. "Well might as well start cleaning up."  
  
"Oh no you don't." He snapped his fingers and the dirty dishes were gone. "All clean and put away in their proper places."  
  
Her eyes widened and she gave him a smile. "Wow, that was a neat trick. Maybe I should have you come by to my annual Christmas party. I could use help like that when it's time to clean-up. Sure would save time." He laughed softly. "I umm, I'm afriad I don't have a spare room for you to sleep in. Toby's old room was turned into Ary's play room."  
  
"That's all right. I can sleep on the couch downstairs."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Quite."  
  
"I'm ready mommy!!!!' came Ary's voice from upstairs.   
  
"Let me tuck her in and I'll get a pillow and some blankets for you." He nodded and she made her way up stairs. She returned a short time later with a pillow under her arm. She fluffed it up on one end of the couch and then took a few blankets from the hall closet and placed them in a pile at the other end.   
  
"I think I'm going to bed, myself. I have to be in early to finish some work."   
  
"All right." They stood for a few moments, a few feet apart from each other, just gazing at each other. "Well I hope the couch is comfortable enough for you. G'night."  
  
"Good Night Sarah."  
  
She turned making her way to the stairs. "Oh I just wanted to thank you...for brightening my day." She smiled nervously and didn't wait for his reaction before walking quickly up the stairs. Jareth watched her go, a smile appeared on his face before he sat down on the couch and prepared for sleep himself. 


	8. A little girl's fear...

AN: here's the next chapter. Enjoy. Thank you again everyone for the reviews. I'm glad that everyone is enjoying this. SqueezyStan: You'd make an awesome editor,   
You're really good at picking all my errors. I really should be more careful with my spelling and all. I'm doing what I can though. I'm an illustrator who is trying to pass off as a writer. :)  
  
A little girl's fear...  
  
Sarah was up and dressed early the next morning. She didn't expect to sleep much the night before, but she was pleasantly surprised to sleep straight through to her alarm clock. She dressed in some nice slacks and a sweater and got ready for work. She moved around the house quietly as to not wake up Ary and Jareth just yet. She had stopped just at the end of the stairs to gaze at him. His head was resting on the pillow she had given him. The blankets were still folded but moved from the couch to the floor. He was laying on his back, still dressed in the same clothing as the night before, his hands folded over his chest. His head was turned to the side toward the couch. Sarah felt her breath catch in her throat. He looked so vulnerable and so handsome, in a strange and mystical way. She shook her head, pulling her eyes from him and walking into the kitchen.   
  
She went to the task of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Ary and filled her Thermos with grape Kool-aid. She put some chocolate chip cookies in a bag as well as a napkin and a quick little note to Ary to tell her that she loved her. She then put everything into her backpack for school.   
  
She was in a fine mood this morning, she believed this partly due to the fact that she still had not gotten a headache yet. Perhaps Jareth was more powerful then he knew? She also knew that today was Friday, which meant the weekend was coming. Work was closed for the weekend and that meant two days off. Ary was going to Toby's this weekend, which meant that she and Jareth would be left alone. She didn't know how she felt about that just yet. It seemed that Jareth could be trusted. He had not been devious or even arrogant in anyway. Perhaps he really had changed.   
  
"You're up early." His voice, soft and calm startled her and she jumped. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." He chuckled softly walking into the kitchen. He was still in the same clothing and she was amazed to see that his hair looked neat despite just waking up.  
  
"You didn't frighten me. Just startled me, that's all. It's going to take some getting used to someone else in the house. It's always been just Ary and myself."  
  
"Work again today?" he asked eyeing the outfit she wore.   
  
She nodded. "For some reason the thought of going to work doesn't bother me this morning. Perhaps because I had a decent day yesterday. Would you like some coffee?"  
  
"Some what?" He gave her a puzzled look as if she had just started talking in a language that he didn't understand.   
  
"Coffee. Oh don't tell me that you have no coffee in the underground."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Something to drink. Adds a little perk to your morning." She handed him a mug of the steaming beverage, which she had just made up for herself. He took the mug into his gloved hands and peered into it suspiciously. "Go ahead try it. It's not poisonous."   
  
He eyed it warily and then took a small sip. His brows lowered over his eyes and he drew his mouth away quickly. "How can you drink this? It's..it's ..repulsive."  
  
"Ok, I can see that you're not going to be a coffee drinker." She took the mug from his hand and drained half of it before taking her lips from the rim of the glass.   
  
He eyed her drinking it with disgust. "As Ary would say, ewww."  
  
Sarah laughed and clasped the mug in both hands. "You really don't mind spending time with Ary do you? You even call her by her nickname."  
  
"She is a wonderful child and she is yours. I would gladly remain in the presence of any child you put into my care. She is different from any child I have ever met, and I have met many. She shows no fear for a child so young."  
  
"She is fearful, not of many things but she is fearful."  
  
"I've yet to see fear from her."  
  
"I know, which is quite a mystery itself."  
  
"I'm afraid that I don't follow you."  
  
Sarah let out a sigh and leaned back against the kitchen counter. "Ary doesn't know her father and she might never know him. In fact I would be glad if she never met him. She was a normal, happy child until she started school. She learned from other children that they all had fathers, even if they didn't live with their mothers. She began to feel like the outcast at school to the point where she with drew into herself. She became very fearful of men. She has to have all women teachers at school."  
  
"Why is she afraid of men?"   
  
Sarah sighed again, putting the coffee mug down onto the counter. "I asked her that myself. She didn't want to tell me at first but I finally got it out of her. She's very sensitive and needs to feel loved at all times, like any child does but even more so. Her father left before she was born. She knows that hurt me so it hurt her too. She told me she never wanted a father or a man in our lives because he would just hurt us. So you can imagine my surprise to look up and see you holding my daughters hand in my living room."  
  
"I had no idea. She showed no fear to me at all. I was amazed by her courage."  
  
"And that's what I don't understand. The Ary I know would not have called you and she would have been very afraid of you, but she's not and I can't explain that right now. I just know that she puts an incredible amount of trust in you and I swear, if you ever hurt her, you'll pay dearly. She's been through enough."  
  
"And so have you Sarah. I'm not here to hurt, but to help. I thought you would have noticed that by now."  
  
"I have noticed it, but that's another thing I can't explain. Why answer my little girl's plea? Why come to me after 20 years and offer your assistance?"  
  
"Sarah...please don't" He couldn't believe it, he was pleading with her...The King of the Goblins was pleading with a mortal woman. He couldn't look at her, couldn't answer this, not yet..not yet...  
  
Sarah didn't understand his sudden discomfort and she didn't think about it any further as Aryanna burst into the kitchen.   
  
"Good morning mommy!" she rushed to her mother hugging her tightly.   
  
"Good morning, sweetie. Sleep well?" Ary nodded.   
  
"Hello Goblin King."  
  
"His name is Jareth, love." Sarah informed her. She knew Jareth didn't like to be called by title. It sometimes offended him, yet he had tolerated it with Aryanna.  
  
"Jareth? But that..that was the name I saw written all over the blue book. Is he the same Jareth you wrote pages and pages about?" Sarah's face turned beet red and an amused smile played across Jareth's face.  
  
"What do you want for breakfast?" Sarah asked turning quickly to the cupboards.   
  
"Can I have....Fruit loops?"  
  
"Sure, get your favorite bowl and spoon and sit at the table." Ary did as she was instructed and Sarah poured her cereal and milk into the bowl. "Ary, you'll have to go over to Melanie's this morning to pick up the bus. I have to go into work early."  
  
"Aw do I have to? Melanie's mom always asks sooo many questions. Can't the Goblin K-I mean Jareth walk me to the bus?"  
  
"Ary that's rude to ask, he was kind enough to get you yesterday afternoon."  
  
"It's all right I don't mind." He told Sarah taking a seat at the table.  
  
"Jareth."  
  
"Really Sarah, I don't mind. It's not a difficult task."  
  
"Please mommy? I won't get to see him all weekend." The little girl frowned.  
  
"Of course you will, I'm not going anywhere." He told her.   
  
"No, but she is." Sarah injected. Jareth gave her a puzzled look. "She spends every other weekend with my brother and his girlfriend."  
  
"And Snicker, don't forget Snicker." Ary chimed in happily.  
  
"Yes and Snicker, Cheryl's cat."  
  
"He's so fat and cuddly." Ary added.   
  
"So Toby will pick her up from school. Uncle Toby has your things for the weekend and I'll bring Lancelot by so that you will have him."  
  
"Promise mommy? You almost forgot him last time."  
  
"I promise you'll have him."  
  
"Yay! So can Jareth bring me to the bus? Pul-ease?"  
  
Sarah shook her head and laughed. "If it's all right with Jareth, it's all right with me."  
  
"Please Jareth?" Ary gave him her best smile.  
  
"How can I resist?"  
  
"yay!!!!!"   
  
"All right, calm down and finish your cereal. Jareth do you want something to eat. A bagel?"  
  
"If it tastes anything like coffee, no thank you."  
  
Sarah let out a chuckle ."I promise it doesn't." He nodded and she put a bagel into the toaster. A short while later it popped up and she offered it to him on a small plate. He took a bite and nodded.   
  
"Very good."  
  
"Would you like butter to put on it or cream cheese?"  
  
"Cream cheese, ewwww!" Ary giggled, making a face.  
  
"I think I'll try the butter on it." Sarah laughed at this and put the butter on the table in front of him as well as a knife. She poured him a cup of juice and he and Ary ate in silence.   
  
"Ary, I've laid out your clothes for today, your lunch is right here in your backpack. And please don't forget to brush your teeth. Jareth she needs to be outside 5 minutes before the bus comes and it comes at 8:15. If she isn't outside early enough the driver won't stop."   
  
"All right."  
  
" I appreciate you bringing her out."  
  
"It's not a problem."  
  
Sarah went to Ary and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Have a good day sweetie."  
  
"You too mommy. I love you." She reached up hugging her mother.   
  
"I love you too. Jareth, I'll see you later this afternoon. Ary, please show him how to work the tv and the radio in case he wants something to do and anything else he asks about, ok? Like how to use the microwave or run the shower."  
  
"Sure mommy."   
  
Sarah rushed away to the door, grabbing her coat and quickly putting on her shoes. She reached for her purse, which she had left on the chair to find it missing. It suddenly dangled in front of her in Jareth's hand.  
  
"Have a good day." He told her handing it to her.  
  
"Thanks." She felt her cheeks reddening under his intense gaze and reached for Lancelot who was by the door. She quickly left the house rushing to her car. How was she going to deal with a whole weekend alone with him???  



	9. Sealed with a Kiss...

AN: I don't have much to say but, thanks for the reviews and please keep them coming!  
  
Disclaimers: Check chapter 1 or 2.  
  
Sealed with a kiss...  
  
It was nearly 6 when Sarah got home. She was tired and a little cranky from such a long day. She was glad that Ary was at Toby's. She needed the peace and quiet as much as she loved her daughter. Her boss Jake had once again asked her to type up and work on a report for him. He was pleased with her work and had given her an assignment to work on over the weekend. He promised her extra pay for her time spent on it. Extra money meant buying extra groceries or being a step closer to having the mortgage paid off.   
  
She walked into her home to find Jareth sitting in the recliner his boots crossed at the ankles and propped up on the foot stool. He was involved in a movie and he didn't even notice her come in. It wasn't until she opened the hall closet and hung her coat up that he realized she had come home.   
  
"Sarah. How was your day?" he got up quickly from the chair, remote in a gloved hand, and he fiddled with the buttons trying to shut the damned thing off. He finally figured it out and tossing the remote back onto the chair, he followed her into the kitchen. "Can I make you some dinner?" He offered eagerly.   
  
"No thanks. I'm not very hungry right now. I'll have some soup later." She walked slowly to the table and put down a folder.   
  
"Are you all right?"   
  
"I'm just tired. Long day and I have some work to do." She glanced up at him noticing that his hair was damp. "Took a shower?"  
  
He nodded. "I must get one of those for my castle." She grinned, but it faded quickly. She walked into the living room and returned with a large black case.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"A typewriter. I think I'm the only one I know of who can't afford a computer. This still works though so I'm fine with it." She opened the case and he watched her pull out the strange looking machine with buttons that had little letters on them. She opened the folder and sat down pulling out papers, beginning to work. Jareth sighed.  
  
"You just got home from work and you're going to work more?"  
  
"I want to get this done so that I can have the rest of my weekend off. I have laundry to do tomorrow and the floors need cleaning, the house needs vacuuming."   
  
He nodded and left the kitchen so that she could work, but she could tell that he was unhappy with her decision. Truth be, that what she told him was only half of the truth. She did need to clean and do laundry, but she was also a little worried about spending time alone with him. She knew that she was an adult but she was also one who had not been in a man's arms in 8 years. Not that she had much time to dwell on that fact. Aryanna needed constant love and attention. She knew she could control herself, but what about him? He had said that he never stopped loving her. Was that true now? She shook her head, banishing the thoughts and watched him head back into the living room. He didn't put on the tv but instead sat down by the bay window in the same rocking chair he had seen Sarah rocking in days before.   
  
He listened to Sarah type away for over two hours. The steady sound of her fingers hitting the keys relaxed him. He finally got up from the chair and went to see how she was doing. She was in the same position, sitting and typing away.  
  
He walked to the sink and realized that he had forgotten to wash Aryanna's breakfast dishes. He decided to wash them by hand so he could watch her work. She looked so serious when she typed and so beautiful. She had written something by hand and was copying it and typing it up. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail with a few strands dangling in her face. Every so often she would tuck a strand behind her ear, just to have to have it fall forward for her to tuck back later. As he was drying the last dish with a dishtowel he noticed that she appeared to be in discomfort. She kept reaching for her neck, rubbing the back of it with her fingers.   
  
She was nearly finished. One more page and she would be done with her extra work. She felt rather then heard her stomach growl but it was forgotten an instant later as soft leather encased fingers touched her neck and began to massage the sore flesh. She tensed immediately.   
  
"Relax." His voice was a soft whisper, his warm breath traveling down her neck and under the top of her sweater. He seemed to know exactly where she hurt and his touch felt so good that she couldn't help but relax. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the moment. He massaged the muscles in her neck for a while longer, kneading carefully with his fingers the tender flesh. Sarah's head fell back and she repressed a groan. "Better?" he asked slowly pulling his hands away.  
  
"Yes...thank you.." he nodded. She flushed as he stood beside her, gazing down at her with those beautiful mismatched eyes. His hair had dried and it fell in soft wisps around his face. Her stomach growled again and she grinned, thankful for the distraction. "I guess it's telling me it's hungry."   
  
"It's telling you that you eat like a bird. You're going to get sick if you don't eat something."  
  
She stretched and gazed at the type writer. "I only have one page left, I'll finish it and then eat." She turned her attention back to the type writer and he sat in the seat beside her, resting his elbow on the table and his face in the palm of his hand as he watched her work.   
  
"You're exhausted." He said just after she had finished.  
  
"I'm all right. Besides I can sleep in the morning. Ary won't be waking me up early to watch cartoons with her so I can sleep."  
  
"Maybe I'll wake you up to watch cartoons with me."  
  
One of her brows rose. "Do you even know what cartoons are?"  
  
"No." he told her casually. "But the thought of waking you up is an exciting idea."  
  
"Hardly." She told him, rolling her eyes. "And if you try it tomorrow, you will see why my brother nicknamed me 'Morning Bear.' "  
  
Jareth smiled sweetly and she caught a glimpse of his teeth. "How is your brother? He must be 20 years old by now."  
  
"Yes. He'll be 21 in a month and a half. Time has certainly come and gone. It seems like just yesterday, he was still in diapers. Now he's an adult and watching my daughter."  
  
Jareth was quiet for a moment and then he regarded her thoughtfully. "Do you ever regret wishing him away to me?" She didn't answer him right away and to him it felt as if his words had been a shout, still lingering in the quiet air.  
  
She shook her head, more strands of hair escaping from her ponytail and falling into her face. "No. Wishing him away was one of the best things I ever did." She answered honestly.  
  
A brow rose over a blue eye. "Really?"  
  
"Really. I didn't like Toby at first. I didn't like much of anything back then. My mom left me when I was 10, she was always off touring with Jeremy, her co worker. She was too busy to take care of me so my dad got custody. Then he met Karen and before I knew it they were married and then Toby was born. I hated it. I was always an only child and suddenly this little brat comes along and gets all the attention and all the best toys. But after I won him back, we became really close. Babysitting him wasn't such a big deal anymore. I would tell him stories and we would watch movies. We grew up and as we both got older he became my best friend. We could tell each other anything. Things we couldn't tell Dad or Karen. I hate to think about what would have happened if I hadn't wished him away. My decisions with Toby were some of the only right decisions I've made in my life and I wouldn't take them back for anything."  
  
"Give yourself, more credit." He reached across the table, tucking the loose strands from her ponytail behind her ear. His touch amazed her, so soft, so gentle and not the least bit frightening to her. He gave her a slight smile and then stood, moving to the cupboard opening two of the doors. "Which kind of soup would you like?"  
  
"Jareth I can make my own soup." She said, collecting her papers and putting the typewriter away in its case.  
  
"I'm sure that you're quite capable, but then again so am I."  
  
"Jareth, you burned your hand the last time you cooked." She rose from the chair and moved to him, standing by his side. He watched her with a growing curiosity. She reached for his hands and took them into her own, turning them so that his palms faced up. "Which one did you burn?" she looked from one to the other.  
  
He pulled his hands away from her quickly and she reached for them again and this time she didn't relinquish her hold.   
  
"You can either tell me or I'll remove your gloves one at a time until I find the burn myself. Either way I'll find out."  
  
He let out an aggravated sigh and pulled his left hand from hers leaving his right. She carefully pulled the glove back and off.   
  
"Dear God Jareth!" She gasped. The underside of his pale hand was red, raw and blistered in a few places. "You should have told me, this could get infected." She touched the flesh gently with her fingers and he winced trying to pull his hand from hers. "I need to put something on this. Come upstairs with me." He followed her obediently up the blue carpeted stairs, his hand still within her grasp.   
  
They went into the bathroom and Sarah walked with him to the sink, gently resting his hand against the cool white porcelain. She reached above the sink, opening doors to a small medicine cabinet and pulled out a few bottles. "This is going to sting, so be forewarned." He nodded and clenched his teeth together as she dabbed the wound with medicine. Then she put gauze and a large band-aid over it. "That should help it heal. I'll clean it twice a day."  
  
"Sarah I'm fine, there is no need to fuss." He told her pulling his hand away possessively. She just watched him. God he acted like a child sometimes.  
  
"You're not fine." She put the bottles back into the cabinet and shut the doors. She turned to him, leaning against the sink and counter. "Couldn't you have healed that with your magic?"  
  
He shook his head. " I can take the pain away for short periods of time but I couldn't heal the injury completely."  
  
"You can reorder time and all that other fancy stuff and you can't heal yourself?"  
  
"I told you I have limits. Besides I'm not a healer; I'm a Goblin King."  
  
"Yeah well you're at my mercy then Goblin King, until this heals." She grinned.   
He didn't reply but quickly pulled his glove back onto his hand.  
  
They made their way back downstairs where she pulled out a can of soup and divided it into bowls. She heated each of them separately and placed them on the table along with two glasses of juice, spoons and napkins.  
  
"I'm not an invalid. I could have made dinner." Jareth told her as he took a seat. He was supposed to be helping her, not the other way around!  
  
"I didn't say that you were." She tested her soup and found it just right and sipped it slowly. "How did things go this morning with Ary?"  
  
"Fine. Although one of your neighbors decided to make an appearance." He told her taking a sip of his own soup.  
  
Sarah lowered the spoon from her lips. "Oh no. Who?"  
  
"Linda. Nosy woman. Asking me question after question. I told her I was a friend of the family and Ary was kind enough to follow along."  
  
"Ugh, Linda always has to be in the center of everything. She's a trouble maker."  
  
"She gave you trouble when he left you didn't she?"  
  
She quickly looked away from him, and concentrated on stirring her soup. "Jareth I don't want to talk about this right now." Damn him. Why did he need to know about things like this?  
  
"All right, but should you change your mind. I'm here to listen, to anything, anytime."  
  
"Thanks." He nodded and they ate in silence.   
  
"Well that hit the spot." She announced standing and gathering her dishes. "Would you like to watch a movie?" She asked walking to the sink.   
  
Jareth stood, following her to the sink with his own dirty dishes. "You really should get some sleep."  
  
She smiled. "I can sleep in the morning, remember?"   
  
"Not if I wake you up.." he teased.  
  
She came very close to slapping him. She started to fill the sink but he gripped her gently by the arms, pulling her out of the way.  
  
"You made dinner, I will wash the dishes." He told her. He snapped his fingers and the dishes were gone.  
  
"That's cheating."  
  
"Your point?"  
  
"That's not fair." Jareth grinned at her as the words fell forth from her lips.  
  
"The old Sarah hasn't gone anywhere." He smiled.  
  
She shook her head and he followed her into the living room. Sarah sat on the couch and he sat beside her, but not too close. He watched her as she flipped through the channels. By the bog, she was beautiful. Her long dark hair, creamy skin, those hazel eyes that made him weak in the knees when they focused on him.  
  
"Jareth?"  
  
"Huh?" His eyes widened and he glanced at her.   
  
"I asked if you wanted to watch First Knight. It might be a movie that you'd like." He nodded and she got up, putting a tape into the VCR. She pushed play and sat down beside him on the couch.   
  
  
Both Sarah and Jareth were very interested in the movie. They made small comments about this or that as they watched but for most of the time they remained silent, watching and listening. Jareth tried to pay attention to the movie but his eyes had a mind of their own and they kept focusing on the woman sitting beside him. How would he survive this weekend without touching her or holding her? Without telling her how much she meant to him?  
  
The movie finally ended and Sarah reached for the remote to rewind the movie and shut the tv off. She flipped a light switch on the wall beside her and a lamp across the room lit up. She glanced down realizing that during the course of the movie she had stretched out over the couch, leaving Jareth very little space. The gentleman he seemed to be, he had given her all the space she needed without complaint and he was nearly sitting on the arm of the couch. He sat up just watching her. She stared at him and a lop-sided grin touched her lips.   
  
"What?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.   
  
"This is just so weird. The two of us sitting here watching a movie."  
  
"Is that bad?"   
  
"I didn't say it was, just weird."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Jareth, C'mon, you have to admit that sitting here and watching a movie with me is strange."  
  
"It's not what I am accustomed to, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable."  
  
"I didn't say that either. It's just felt like the last few days have been a dream, that..." She flashed him a brilliant smile. "That I don't want to wake up from." He opened his mouth to protest and she waved a hand at him. "I know I know. It's not a dream, it's real." She sat up and moved a little closer to him. "Why is it that you won't tell me why you're helping? Why does that make you so uncomfortable?"  
  
"Does it matter why?" He asked.  
  
"I suppose it does. This just doesn't seem like you. I know that you have changed, but still, this is just really weird. You were so cold, cruel, manipulative and arrogant. But now...I don't see any of that. Why are you so eager to do what Ary wants? And why on earth would you want to help me after what I did to you?"  
  
"Sarah..."  
  
'No seriously Jareth. You were trying to tell me you loved me and I said the words. I turned your world upside down."  
  
Jareth shifted, moving closer to her and pulled one knee up toward him, resting his boot on the edge of the coffee table. "You did turn my world upside down Sarah, but not in the way that you think. I realized that you were too young, I realized it too late. My pride blinded me and I tried to win and tried to admit what I felt at the same time. I failed with both miserably. But it isn't about winning or losing anymore. It's not about mazes of stone, screaming babies or pride and deceptions. This certainly isn't a game anymore. It's real life."  
  
"But life is a game. We're all pawns on some board and someone else is in charge, moving the pieces around, shaping our future."  
  
Jareth shook his head. "We may not be in charge of specific events but in the end we are in charge. We are in charge of how we handle situations, if we move on or stay in the same place."  
  
Sarah lowered her eyes from him. Her voice came out as a whisper. "Do you think that it's my own fault that I fell so far? That Adam left me?"   
  
He shook his head and reached for her, brushing back her hair from her face. "If you want my honest opinion, the man who left you was an idiot. I don't know the exact situations and your past together but I know any man who left you, is a fool. He left you with child, no less. As far as I'm concerned he's lower then the slime on the bottom of the bog of eternal stench."  
  
Sarah let out a soft chuckle, and tried to hide the tears that formed in her eyes. Jareth didn't miss them and he touched her face smoothing her cheek with a leather encased thumb.  
  
"Sarah you are too strong of a person to carry on the life you are leading." He told her. "The Sarah I knew would never have allowed me to see her cry, she would never have been so calm in my presence."  
  
'The old Sarah is gone, Jareth and she isn't coming back. That was 20 years ago."  
  
"I realize that."  
  
"Do you? Or are you stuck in the past? Too much crap has happened and it changed me. I'm not the person I used to be." She pulled away from him drawing her knees up to her chin. "I cry a lot, I break down easily, I'm an easy target for public and work related ridicule. I'm not the spunky, strong willed teenager that I used to be. I'm a middle aged, single mother.....who is..." She squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to cry. She would not cry. "Who is totally lost....I don't know if I'm coming or going. If it's day or if it's night. There are only two things that I am sure of in my life right now."  
  
"What are you sure of Sarah?" He moved closer to her, letting his hands gently slide up and down her arms.   
  
"That I love my daughter and....and" She turned away from him, gathering the little courage she could find within herself. When she found it she looked at him, tears still blurring her hazel eyes. "I know that I don't want you to leave me..."  
  
Jareth blinked, surprised by her words but he forced himself to recover quickly. He didn't want to give her the wrong impression "Sarah, I'm not going anywhere." He said softly. "I will stay as long as you and Aryanna want me to stay."  
  
"I don't even know you. I don't know what your favorite color is, or your favorite food. I don't know what makes you angry or happy. All I know is that... I don't want you to go."  
  
"Then I won't." He ran his thumb over her cheek again and she let her face rest in his hand.   
  
"I can't give you any promises for the future Jareth. I...I don't even know what I feel for you right now. I like you. I know I like what you have become, but I can't promise anything more then friendship. I can't and I won't offer anything more right now. Aryanna comes first. Before me and before you."  
  
"Then we shall be friends, and we will stay such until you decide otherwise." She smiled brightly and Jareth felt his breath catch in his throat. God he loved her and he would do anything for her. "Let us seal our friendship with something. Something that will never happen again unless you will it."  
  
She nodded and took a deep breath. He hesitantly leaned his face closer to hers. She knew what he was going to do and the truth hit her hard, but she wanted him to do this. She closed her eyes and she felt his breath warm on her cheeks. After what felt like minutes his lips gently and hesitantly touched hers. It was a soft, gentle and completely harmless kiss he placed on her lips. A kiss from a friend. He began to pull back but she leaned forward kissing him in return. She could feel and hear his gasp of surprise but she ignored it and concentrated on him, pressing her lips against his.   
  
It had been 8 years since she had kissed someone; 8 years since she had been in someone's arms. 3 of those years, she had not been selfish. She had not dated, even when she wanted to because of Aryanna and her fear. But Aryanna didn't fear Jareth so neither should she. She would accept his help and she wasn't afraid to show him that she wanted it, more then anything else she wanted right now.   
  
He didn't return her kiss at first, due to shock or because he didn't want to push her, she didn't know. All she knew was that his hair tickled her face, and his lips were soft and warm against her own. He smelled like her herbal shampoo and like Dove soap. He slowly began to return her kiss, gently moving his lips over hers as if she were something fragile and he was afraid that she would break.   
  
He let her make the decisions. She broke the kiss first, taking a quick breath and immediately leaning back into him, not just with her lips, but with her entire body. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She could feel the warmth of him against her, his hands, one in her hair the other slowly sliding down her back. Her kisses became more demanding, as she wanted more of him. Her breathing and heartbeat quickened and then suddenly his lips were gone, the warmth, the feel of his body was gone and she felt cold and alone.   
  
She opened her eyes to see him sitting at the opposite end of the couch trying to compose himself. Trying to slow his breathing and his racing heart. He watched her as she gazed at him. She looked disappointed.   
  
"We have to stop Sarah. You don't know what you feel for me Sarah. I will not let something we both may regret happen."  
  
She nodded, thankful that one of them had come to their senses. She realized it should have been her. They sat for a short time, their breathing returning to normal. She reached for him and he watched her curiously, his glance and position guarded yet not unapproachable. She leaned against him, her head resting on his chest beneath his chin.  
  
"What did I ever do to deserve you?" She whispered. He shivered as her warm breath brushed over the exposed skin of his chest.  
  
He smiled to himself, but didn't answer, instead gently running his gloved hands over her, soothing and relaxing her. Her breathing became shallow and he knew that she had fallen asleep. He held her for a while longer and then he carefully lowered her onto the couch, laying her head on the pillow and draping 2 blankets over her. He smiled as he watched her roll over and begin to dream.   
  
"You loved me Sarah.." he finally answered. "Even though I didn't learn that until 20 years later.. you once loved me." He leaned over placing a soft kiss on her forehead and then he moved to the recliner. He sat, leaning back and he put his feet up on the footstool He watched Sarah sleep for a little while and then his own eyelids felt heavy and he let them fall. Sleep took him quickly and soon he was dreaming of the raven haired woman who lay a few feet away from him... 


	10. Confusion...

AN: Ok who wants a Jareth clone? They clone cats why not clone Jareth? One Jareth clone to each of my faithful readers and reviewers. How does that sound?? Good? Anyway I'm glad that everyone enjoyed the last chapter. It was a bugger to write but that's beside the point. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, I really do enjoy reading them all. I check the review pages about 50 times a day-no word of a lie.   
  
Disclaimers: I don't own him ok. I don't own Jareth. Are you happy now? You made me cry. I don't own Sarah or Toby or the Labyrinth either. I'm just taking them all on a non profit tour because I didn't like the way the movie ended. I own Aryanna, Adam and any other characters not in the movie.   
  
Confusion  
  
She felt warm and comfortable. The sun felt good on her face. Sun? But her room didn't get any morning sun light. It faced the west. Her eyes shot open and she glanced around frantically, calming when she realized that she was lying on the couch in her living room. She glanced around again looking for Jareth. He was no where to be found. She was alone.   
  
Had he left her and gone back to his Labyrinth or was he still here keeping himself busy with something? She didn't know the answer to either question, she just knew that the house was very quiet. So quiet she could hear the ticking of the second hand on the grandfather clock in the upstairs hall. So she lay still within the blankets that were wrapped around her. Last night had been so strange. She had come home from work, finished the extra work from her boss, wrapped Jareth's burned hand, ate with him and then watched a movie. And he had kissed her... She closed her eyes and felt dreamy as she thought about how gentle he had been with her. She told him she wanted nothing more then friendship and he had respected her wishes. He had sealed their friendship with a kiss and he had been a complete gentleman about it. Even after she had dove back after his lips like some lovesick teenager.   
  
She knew deep down inside of her she still loved him. She loved the way he looked at her, the way he gently touched her, the way he said her name, his accent. She had loved those things about him when she was 16 and 17. When she had written everything down in her diary. Every last detail about him, how he made her feel and how she wished she could see him again. Her wish had finally come true 20 years later.  
  
She had regretted leaving the Labyrinth and him the way that she had, but it had to be done. She had to save Toby and he was right about her. She was too young to understand back then. Too young to understand what his words meant in their final confrontation and too young to understand her own growing feelings for him.   
  
Had it really been 20 years since she had last seen him, had defeated the Labyrinth and had seen her friends? Her friends, dear Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus. She had not called them back since the night she returned from the Labyrinth. She grew up quickly after that banishing the ideas of fantasy creatures partly from her mind. Yet her fascination with the Goblin King had grown and then tripled as she hit the tender years before she became an adult. And now he was here, in her life again and had willingly accepted to help her and become a friend. She grinned and rolled over, staring out the bay window. It was a beautiful day outside.   
  
She heard a creak in the floor and she turned to see Jareth standing in the doorway. His hair was damp and she was surprised that she had slept through the sound of the shower. It squeaked something awful at times.   
  
"Good morning" He said softly. "I was wondering if you were going to sleep all day." He stepped fully into the room and she couldn't help but gaze at how beautiful he was. Beautiful usually wasn't the word she used to describe a man, but he was beautiful. With his long, wild hair, his soft pale skin and those eyes of his, so enchanting. They drew her into them every time. She could drowned in them. He was dressed in a flowing white low neck, open front shirt. The ruffles fell gracefully along the necklace he wore that dangled over his chest. He wore his usual black pants and knee high black boots. He was handsome in his own way. Much different from past movie stars and boys at college she had drooled over. Yes, he was beautiful and handsome. She smiled lazily looking up at him with her face resting on her hands, her elbows resting on the cushions of the couch.  
  
"Good morning." She smiled sweetly.   
  
He smiled. She seemed to be in a wonderful mood this morning and he had not missed the way she had let her eyes roam all over his form.   
  
She flipped over onto her back and stretched her arms above her. "Ah, what time is it anyway?"  
  
"11 o clock."  
  
She shot straight up. "11 o clock! Oh god!" She threw the covers off of her and got to her feet. Not realizing that the blankets had wrapped themselves around her legs she went sprawling forward, the carpeted floor coming faster into focus. And then she stopped from falling in midair. Two strong hands held her and she looked up to see Jareth, grinning at her.   
  
"Now what on earth was that all about?" he asked pulling her to her feet. She kicked the blankets away from her and they landed in a heap on the floor. She looked up at Jareth who she realized still held her.   
  
"It's trash day and I haven't put the trash out yet." She told him.   
  
He let out an amused chuckle and finally released her from his grasp. "No need to worry Sarah. The trash was put outside and it's already been taken away."  
  
"What...how?"  
  
"I saw your list on the refrigerator." He made a gesture with his hand and the list materialized in between his gloved fingers. "Things to do on Saturday." He read aloud. "Take out the trash, done. Wash and hang the laundry outside, done. Clean the house. Done. Dishes, done. The only thing I could not do was the grocery shopping."  
  
She stared up at him in amazement. "You...you did all those things for me?"  
  
'Of course." He said with a tiny bit of arrogance laced in his tone. He made another gesture and the list was gone.   
  
She squinted her eyes and put her hands on her hips, a knowing smile playing on her lips. "You cheated didn't you? You used your magic."  
  
"Not for everything. I brought the trash out myself. Although I suspect that your neighbor Linda will be asking you questions sometime soon."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"She was outside, putting her own trash out. I know she was dying to ask me questions, but I refused to acknowledge her."  
  
"Oh man. She hates to be ignored."  
  
"I've noticed."   
  
"Thank you for doing all of the chores for me. Now there's nothing to do but the grocery shopping." She reached for her neck to rub the insistently sore muscles.   
  
"Here allow me." He said softly, walking behind her and replacing her hand with his own. She closed her eyes and allowed him to knead the flesh of her neck.   
  
"Thank you." She said pulling from him.   
  
He nodded and smiled sweetly. "Anymore headaches lately?"  
  
"None. I haven't even needed to use the crystal that you gave me. Speaking of crystals, I wonder how Ary made out at school with hers."  
  
"No doubt we'll hear all about it when she returns from your brother's."  
  
'Oh yes and we'll hear about Snickers the cat again, as well as every detail of her weekend. She's going to talk your ear off, now that you've paid attention to her."  
  
"That's all right. She's a delightful child."  
  
"Well, I'm going to take a shower and then go grocery shopping. Do you want to go for the ride with me or would you rather stay here and watch TV."  
  
"I'd much rather be with you."  
  
She blushed and swatted at him playfully. "Stop that." She told him.   
  
He grinned deviously. "Stop what?"  
  
"You know what."  
  
"I'm afraid I don't. You'll have to tell me."  
  
"Oh never mind. Before I shower, I want to look at your hand." He stubbornly hid it behind him as she reached for it. "Stop acting like a child or I'll treat you like one." She told him.   
  
"Really Sarah, the burn is not that big of a deal. It will heal well enough on it's own."  
  
"That's not guaranteed. Now let me have it." She reached for his hand and he moved away from her.  
  
"I'll let you have it all right." He grinned devilishly.  
  
Her eyes widened but then she stood calmly. Two could play at this game. When he least expected it, she lunged at him and toppled him. He went staggering backwards and landed in the recliner with her falling on top of him. She laughed wildly at his surprised expression. Then he too began to chuckle softly.   
  
Sarah meant to get up off of him and snatch his hand to see how the burn looked but she couldn't move. His mismatched eyes had locked with hers and she saw such love, such devoted passion in them that she couldn't move away.   
  
All he could see was how beautiful she was. 20 years had not dented her beauty but made her even more desirable to him. Her hair was hanging in her face and tickling his cheeks as it dangled over him. He could feel her warm breath and could feel her body pressed against his as she leaned over him. Her eyes were locked with his. They were full of an emotion he couldn't comprehend, dared not to...  
  
Silence drifted between them and Jareth was about to make a joke or offer his burned hand for her to finally examine to break the awkwardness, but he wasn't given a chance. Warm soft lips descended onto his. His hands had a mind of their own as one lost it self within the dark strands of her hair and the other settled on her waist, pulling her closer to him. He lost all rational thought as she hungrily attacked his lips. He didn't hold back this time and gave into her, showing her the same raw hunger she showed him. He felt one of her hands bury itself into his blond mane. The other was on his shoulder, and inching towards his chest.   
  
They needed air and he broke away first, taking a much needed breath and then focusing his efforts back on her. He flipped her so that she was on her back looking up at him. His lips left her mouth and ventured to her neck, placing soft kisses along her flesh. A soft groan escaped her mouth and that was all it took for Jareth to return to his senses. He was clearly angry with himself when he forced her away from him.   
  
"Sarah, stop. This isn't right." He sat on the arm of the chair and she sat on the cushion, trying to calm her racing heart and steady her breathing. "This isn't how friends behave... You don't know what you feel for me, and Aryanna comes first remember."  
  
She nodded lamely and looked as if she were ready to cry. One gloved hand cradled her face in its palm.   
  
'I was being selfish wasn't I?" she admitted softly.  
  
"I don't know what was happening just then. I will admit that I was surprised by your actions."  
  
"I wasn't." she whispered painfully soft.  
  
He let out a sigh. 'Sarah... what are you saying?" his heart was pounding in his chest.  
  
She shook her head, her hair flying wildly around her. "I don't know what's going on. I know I feel something for you... I know that I'm attracted to you..."  
  
His eyes widened and he grinned, brushing back the strands of hair that had fallen into her face. "You...you're attracted to me?"  
  
She allowed a soft laugh to escape from her. "Gee I thought that was pretty obvious. You are good looking. It it hard for you to believe that I would be attracted to you?"  
  
"No, I suppose it's just unexpected, that's all." He sighed and continued to touch her hair. "You're confused right now Sarah. You think you know what you want, but you don't know for sure. I'm not going to let you do things that you aren't sure of Sarah. Only when you're sure of how you feel about us, about everything, will I offer myself to you."  
  
"Do you love me Jareth?"  
  
"Sarah..."  
  
'Do you?"  
  
"You know that I do. I never stopped and that is why I will not let you do anything you may regret. I love you too much to become a passing fancy or a regret."  
  
"Oh Jareth... I really don't deserve you."  
  
"The feeling is mututal, now, I believe that you wished to look at my hand?" He offered it to her with a grin.  
  
She laughed and reached for it, pulling the black leather glove slowly from his hand. She pealed back the bandaging. "Well the swelling has gone down. It's still red and raw though. C'mon, I'll put some medicine on it." He followed her up stairs and she again dabbed it with medicine and bandaged it.   
  
"You take your shower and get ready and I'll be downstairs waiting to go grocery shopping with you."  
  
She nodded with a smile and he leaned over placing a soft kiss on her cheek before he left the bathroom. Sarah let out a tremendous sigh and leaned against the wall, sliding along it until her bottom hit the tiled floor. God she was confused. Although she was certain of one more thing in her life. The Goblin King was a good kisser!  
  
A half-hour later she was showered, and changed into a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. The weather forecast predicted a beautiful sunny day with a high in the 50's. Odd for the end of February but she wasn't going to complain. Maybe after they went grocery shopping she would take Jareth sight seeing.   
  
Jareth was standing beside the mantle over the fireplace when Sarah came downstairs. She didn't say anything at first, but just watched him. She held her breath as she watched him glance at all the pictures on the mantle. He stopped at one in particular and gazed at it for a long time, finally reaching for it and picking it up into his hands to gaze at it intently.   
  
"I should have put that picture away a long time ago." Sarah said softly.   
  
He spun to face her quickly putting the picture back onto the mantle. "It's all right." She told him. She made her way to his side and picked it up for herself touching the glass in the frame with one finger. "This was taken so long ago. Nearly 10 years ago." Her voice quivered as she spoke. "Things went wrong 8 years ago and some days it feels like it happened only yesterday or the day before. Other days it feels like it was a life time ago."  
  
He reached for her silently and pulled her slowly into his arms. He knew she was going to cry and he couldn't blame her. She'd caught him holding a picture of her and Adam, the man who had left her and his own daughter behind. She probably had not looked at the picture for years. He knew this because it was the only picture covered with dust. It wasn't clean like the others. Other pictures like the one of Sarah with Aryanna when she was a baby. Or the two of them at a park, with Sarah pushing Ary on a swing. A picture of Sarah and Toby, both of them adults and a picture of her entire family. Father, step-mother, Toby, Aryanna and Sarah. He's been foolish enough to touch it and she had noticed that he had.   
  
She didn't cry, not right away so he just held her. Running his hand along her back. She leaned against him, thankful for the safe haven he provided her with. He was so much more then she could ever have hoped for. She knew it would only be a matter of time before she fell for him completely. He was exactly what she needed in her life and she dared to hope that he was what Ary needed as well. Only time would tell how things would turn out.   
  
He felt warm against her and strong. He was so much stronger then she was. The picture she held in her hand fell as she let it go to move completely into his arms. It shattered as it hit the slate floor that lined the front of the fireplace. As soon as she heard it shatter, she lost it and the tears fell freely from her eyes. Jareth said nothing but continued to hold her, rocking her in his arms as she sobbed against him. She finally pulled herself together and after a few moments stood back from his embrace. She hastily wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks and she reached for his hand.   
  
"It's a beautiful day and I want to spend it with you." She told him. "No more crying or feeling sorry for myself Just you and I today. We'll go shopping and after we bring the groceries home, I'll take you sight seeing."  
  
"That sounds wonderful." And he meant it. She surprised him when she threw herself into his arms again. But she didn't cry. She hugged him tightly as if he were a friend or family member that she loved. And he was content with that. She held his hand, much like Ary did that first night he had met her. They walked to the side door that led to the garage. She opened the side door for him and she stood quietly for a moment just looking at him.   
  
"What is it?" he asked softly.   
  
"I...I was just curious as to what other people see when they look at you. You told me that Ary and I see you as you truly are and that others see your magic."  
  
"They see an illusion that I've placed over myself to hide who I really am."  
  
"I want to see what they see, just for a moment."  
  
He hesitated but nodded. He shimmered in a sparkling blue light before her and in his place stood a tall thin man. His long blond hair was pulled into a ponytail. He wore a black shirt with a black leather jacket over that. He wore jeans, not nearly as tight as his black pants and boots that were concealed under the pants. He looked completely different. The only thing that made her realize who he was, were his eyes. She regarded him for a while but she shook her head.   
  
"I like the real you, much better."  
  
"You don't like me looking 'normal'." She could tell the word normal didn't taste right to him.   
  
"No. I like the way you really look, the way you were meant to look. The dashing Goblin King, dressed in his ruffly shirts, black pants and knee high boots." He nodded and he shimmered again, transforming back into his true form. "Much better." She told him and she reached again for his hand, squeezing it before she headed to the opposite side of the car. They both got into the old station wagon and she started it up. He watched has she turned the key in the iginition, pulled the brake and shifted the care. She let it warm up before she hit the garage door opener and backed out for a new adventure. 


	11. Brotherly Concern...

An: I should have been working on my Gothic Art Paper which is due today and What did I spend my day doing? Writing another chapter and painting a picture of Jareth!! Oh dear, where are my priorities, hmm?? Ah well...It's past midnight now and I finally finished my paper. God is architecture boring! Painting Jareth wasn't boring though. Want to take a peek at him?? http://community.webshots.com/album/32180194AkcuefOWbc  
  
This is a long chapter. I hope you all enjoy it! How's everyone enjoying their clones BTW??  
  
  
Brotherly concern...  
  
  
Grocery shopping with Jareth turned out to be interesting. She learned that he preferred beef over chicken. Apparently his goblins were good at catching chickens and he'd eaten enough chicken to last the rest of his immortal life. He helped her carry the groceries from the car into the house and helped her put everything away. She cooked them a light lunch and they got back into the car to drive around town. Their final destination being the lake. Due to the warm temperature, the light dusting of snow that had fallen the night before had melted and most of it had already dried up. There was a slight chill to the air and a small wind as they stepped from the car.   
  
Sarah walked to a large rock and took a seat on it. Jareth stood not far from her, his hair drifting around him in the wind.   
  
They both remained silent, gazing at their surroundings. "Jareth....Do you miss home?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Do you miss your home, your castle?"  
  
He tilted his head at her, trying to understand where the question came from but he answered it none the less. "Yes I suppose that I miss home a little. I haven't been away that long. Only a few days, although I'm sure that my goblins are trashing the place." She grinned, remembering what his throne room had once looked like. "Why do you ask?"  
  
She shrugged. "Just curious."  
  
"Trying to get rid of me are you?"  
  
"No, not at all." He smiled back at her and then leapt up onto the rock to sit beside her. "How did you become the Goblin King?"   
  
One brow arched delicately over his eye. He watched her pick up a pebble that was resting on the rock they sat on and she threw it into the water. "My, aren't we curious today?"  
  
"Does that bother you?"  
  
"No." He crossed his legs, sitting Indian style. "How did I become Goblin King? I don't think anyone ever cared to ask that question and I'm afraid that the answer is rather boring. You see, my father was the King before I and when he grew bored of ruling I became the Goblin King."  
  
"So you have a family like I...like I used to?"  
  
"Yes, I do. Although I haven't seen my mother or father in several hundred years."  
  
"Hundred years?"  
  
"My word, you and your daughter have much in common and it's not just your appearance. Yes hundreds of years."  
  
"How....how old are you?"  
  
"634. I'll be turning I'll be 35 at the end of the year." He laughed at the surprised expression on her face. "Didn't think I was that old did you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Does that change things, that I'm an older man?"   
  
She chuckled softly. "Much older." She corrected. "But no that doesn't bother me."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Anything else you want to know while I am telling all?"  
  
"Has anyone else ever beaten your Labyrinth?"  
  
He didn't answer her right away but merely stared at her, watching the wind lift her hair up off her shoulders. "No. There has only been one child who ever defeated me and she isn't a child anymore." He caught a few strands of her hair in his hand and tangled his fingers in the strands. "You were the only one."  
  
She seemed satisfied with this answer and she looked back out over the water. They sat side by side a while longer and then Sarah drove them home. She cooked them dinner and they watched another movie. She wrapped his hand again before they both bid each other good night.   
  
Sunday came and went quickly. Sarah drove to Toby's to pick up Ary and she was a chatterbox the entire way home. She was disappointed that Jareth had not come along for the ride, but her spirits lifted when they walked into the house and there was Jareth waiting in the doorway.   
  
"Jareth!!" the little girl cried and she dropped her backpack and teddy bear on the floor rushing at the Goblin King and hugging him tightly. Sarah smiled as she watched Jareth lift her up into his arms and hug her in return.   
  
"I want to hear all about your weekend." He told her. Aryanna began rattling off about how the cat Snicker loved to sleep with her. Toby and Cheryl had taken her to the movie store to rent movies and then took her out for dinner on Saturday night. She colored and played on the exercise bike. The crystal he had given her was a huge success in school and everyone wanted to try it. Sarah went upstairs to put Ary's clothes away. She had already heard about Ary's weekend in the car.   
  
  
The next few days flew by in a blur. Ary went back to school and every morning Jareth and Sarah walked her to the bus together. So far Linda had left them alone and for that Sarah was grateful. Sarah went to work during the day. Sometimes Jareth would return to his castle while she was at work to make sure that his goblins had not destroyed it. Everything seemed all right and he began to check in on them through his crystals. He had grown rather fond of the television as well as the shower and he enjoyed them during the day when he was alone. Every night when Sarah got in from work, Jareth and Ary had dinner ready for her. Jareth started cooking on his own, without magic and he found that he enjoyed it more that way. Sarah found that he was a wonderful cook and there were no more nights of macaroni and cheese.   
  
The days turned into a week and soon a few weeks had gone by. Sarah received a job promotion and was hired as Jake's personal secretary. The extra money enabled her to pay more of the mortgage, to fix up her car and to buy a few things for Jareth. Ary had willingly given up her toy room so that Sarah could change the room into a guestroom for Jareth. She felt guilty about making him sleep on the couch. He seemed content there but as time passed she realized he should have his own space.   
  
Sarah had been very secretive the last week and Aryanna kept Jareth busy downstairs. He colored with her and helped her prepare for her spelling tests.   
  
"And how do you spell automobile?"  
  
"Hmm... A..u..t..o.......m....o...b....i..l..e."  
  
'Very good. You're getting quite good at spelling Ary."  
  
Sarah peeked her head into the kitchen. "I hate to interrupt homework and studying time, but I need to borrow Jareth for a minute."  
  
"Ok Mommy. He's all yours. That was the last word anyway."  
  
'Good girl. Why don't you go over the words again ok?" She nodded.   
  
Jareth rose from the kitchen table and walked into the hall. "Do you need me for something?"  
  
"There's something I want to show you." He nodded and followed her upstairs. "Ok you have to close your eyes."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Close your eyes. It's a surprise." She took his hand and he nodded, closing his eyes. She led him forward down the hall and opened the door to a room. "Ok you can look now."  
  
Jareth opened his eyes. "Sarah? What happened to Ary's play room? Are you expecting visitors?" Ary's toys were gone. There was a bureau, and a bed covered by a royal blue blanket. There was a desk and chair and a shelf full of books. He gazed down at her in confusion and she smiled.   
  
"The couch isn't all that comfortable and you do need your own space...Ary put her toys in the basement and she can play with them there."  
  
"This..this room is for me?" She nodded. "Sarah, you didn't have to go through all this trouble." He stepped into the room noticing it had been redone. Fresh paint lined the walls and the room had been scrubbed clean. The sheets and blanket on the bed were new.   
  
"It wasn't any trouble. Just think of it as a little thanks for everything you have done lately."  
  
"Sarah..." She put a finger to his lips. "I don't want to hear it."  
  
"But all the work you put into here. This has been were you've been hiding yourself?"  
  
"Yes. Every night I came up here and worked on it, until it was done. I've had a little extra money in my check each week thanks to my promotion so I bought some paint, some sheets, a blanket. I polished the old bureaus and put the bed together."  
  
"Thank you." He pulled her to him, hugging her gently.   
  
"Thank you. Listen, Ary is going to Toby's again this weekend and Toby wanted all of us to get together for dinner on Saturday night."  
  
"I'm sure you will all have a wonderful time."  
  
"No, you too. You're invited too."  
  
Jareth paled. "Me?"  
  
"Yes you. My brother wants to meet the man who has made his sister and his niece so happy."  
  
"Sarah, I don't know if it would be a good idea."  
  
"Why because of what happened 20 years ago?" He nodded. "Jareth, I told Toby about that years ago. He wasn't upset by what happened. In fact he was happy that things turned out as they did. And he already knows about you, that you're here and what you've been doing for me and for Ary."  
  
He sighed. "I didn't think he knew about me."  
  
"Do you think that my daughter could keep that big of a secret? No way. She told Toby everything that first weekend you were here. When I picked her up at his house I told him what was going on. Will you come out to dinner with us? Please?" She pleaded at him with those beautiful eyes of hers.  
  
He tightened his grip on her, pulling her closer to him. "Of course I will."   
  
  
Saturday night came quickly. Sarah and Jareth were going to meet Toby, Cheryl and Ary at a local restaurant, called Eddy's. It overlooked the lake that Sarah had taken Jareth to their first weekend alone together. Jareth was exceptionally quiet in the car.   
  
"Hey are you all right? You're pretty quiet. You aren't nervous are you?" He shook his head. "Then what is it?"  
  
"I have never been out to eat at a restaurant before."  
  
"It's not much different then eating at home, except we can all order different things and we get served by a waitress." He nodded.   
  
Sarah pulled into the parking lot. "Look there's Ary, Toby and Cheryl." She beeped the horn once and pulled into a vacant spot by Toby's black Firebird.   
  
Sarah stepped out of the car and Toby grabbed her spinning her around. "Sarah! It's been too long."  
  
"Just a week and a half silly." She hugged her brother in return and he put her down. "Hi Cheryl."  
  
"Hi Sarah. It's wonderful to see you again." Sarah gave the tall, redhead a hug.   
  
"And where's my little trouble maker??"   
  
"I'm not a trouble maker mommy." Ary rushed to her mother hugging her tightly. "Where's Jareth mommy? Where's Jareth?"  
  
"I'm right here." Ary lunged at the Goblin King who stood behind Sarah, hugging him tightly. Toby watched and looked at his girlfriend.   
  
"Toby and Cheryl, I'd like you to meet Jareth." Sarah introduced. Jareth nodded at them and Toby extended a hand to him.   
  
It was unbelievable to Jareth how he had grown. He was 21 now, tall, still blond with bright blue eyes. Jareth placed his gloved hand into Toby's hand. "It's about time, that I finally got to meet you. My niece can't stop talking about how wonderful you are and my sister, well she was always fond of you. It's amazing how you've helped them."  
  
"It's been my pleasure to help them." Toby nodded and released his hand. "Well I called and set reservations for us. I knew it would be busy tonight, especially with the back room open."  
  
"Yay!!" Ary cried. Jareth gazed at Sarah and she smiled sweetly.   
  
The group went inside and was seated quickly. Ary was insistent that she had to sit between Jareth and Sarah but one look from her uncle Toby told her to drop the subject so she sat between Toby and Sarah. Sarah helped Jareth order his food and the two of them hid behind the giant laminated menu deciding what they wanted to eat.  
  
The restaurant was noisy and in the back room there was music and dancing going on. Eddy's was a well known place in town, with good food and a nice setting. There were candles on all of the tables as well as flowers. And in the back room each weekend there was a DJ and the dance floor was open to all ages.  
  
"What are you getting Sarah?" Toby called from across the table.   
  
"I think I'll get fish and chips." She told him peeking out from behind the menu.  
  
Toby threw his hands up into the air. "How did I know?"  
  
"Maybe because that's what I always get here!" She laughed and she tossed her cloth napkin across the table at him.   
  
"How about you Jareth?"  
  
Jareth looked up from his menu. "I'm going to try the steak. Sounds very good."  
  
"It's awesome. That's what I'm getting too."   
  
A waitress showed up at the table and everyone ordered.   
  
"Mommy will you play pin ball with me before dinner comes? Please?" Sarah knew she would ask sooner or later. Every time they went to Eddy's she always had to play a few games of pinball.   
  
"Oh all right. Cheryl you want to come?" The young woman nodded. "Ok, we'll be back in a little while." Sarah leaned over to whisper something in Jareth's ear and he nodded. She placed a hand on his shoulder before she took Ary's hand and they walked over to a game room on the other side of the restaurant. Jareth watched them go, Aryanna bouncing up and down as she held her mother's hand and Cheryl holding Ary's other hand.  
  
"I hope that my sister and her daughter aren't driving you crazy." Toby said to him across the table.   
  
Jareth turned back to him. "On the contrary, I've enjoyed staying with them."  
  
"How long are you going to stay with them?"   
  
Jareth reached for his glass of water and took a sip. "That depends on Sarah and Ary." He said looking over the rim of the glass. Toby scooted over into Sarah's empty seat and leaned closer to Jareth.   
  
"I don't know if you noticed, but my sister really likes you and Aryanna adores you. Do you have any intention of dating my sister, or are you just around to help her and then leave?"  
  
One of Jareth's brows rose. "That again depends on Sarah." He said choosing his words carefully.  
  
"So you like her then?"  
  
"I fail to understand this line of questioning." Jareth shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with their discussion.  
  
"My sister hasn't had a man in her life in 8 years ok, not since that miserable ass Adam left her. I haven't seen her as happy as she is now in a really long time. And Ary, the kid is just bubbling with joy since you came into her life. She doesn't stop talking about you. Both of them can't stop talking about you. I just need to make sure you're not going to hurt them. I don't want to see my sister slip into depression again. It wasn't pretty the first time around and I don't want to see it a second time."  
  
Jareth understood now. Toby didn't wish for Sarah and Ary to be hurt again. "I understand your concern. But I assure you, I am not here to hurt Sarah or Aryanna. I know what happened to Sarah in the past and I know it affected Ary as well. I would never intentionally hurt either of them."  
  
"Good, so you understand that if you hurt either one of them in anyway that I'll break your nose or your fingers or whatever I feel like breaking, Goblin King. I don't care who the hell you are. You hurt them, I hurt you. Got that?"  
  
Jareth's brows lowered over his eyes and his voice became cold. "Are you threatening me?"  
  
"No, I'm warning you. My sister is a good woman and she doesn't need anymore shit in her life. She's gone through enough. It's obvious you care about her and my niece, but if anything goes wrong, you will regret that you stepped into Sarah's life again. Are we clear about that?"  
  
Jareth didn't have a chance to respond as Sarah and Ary could be heard making their way back to the table. Toby sat back into his own seat and Jareth glared at him. He didn't like to be threatened, especially by a mortal boy who could have become a goblin.   
  
"How did you do Ary?" Toby asked.   
  
"I beat mommy and Cheryl!"  
  
"You did?"  
  
"Oh yeah, she totally kicked our butts." Cheryl laughed as she took her seat beside Toby.   
  
The waitress arrived with the food a short while later and soon they were all eating. There wasn't a quiet moment from the minute the food arrived as tales from the past came spilling out.  
  
"Oh my god Sarah, do you remember that time when we slept over Uncle Tim's?" Toby cried from across the table.   
  
Sarah burst out laughing, nearly choking on her food. "Oh my gosh, Tobe, how could I forget?"  
  
"Oh man is that when you guys drove his jeep around the yard and crashed into one of the bushes when he wasn't home?" Cheryl asked.   
  
"Oh yeah! We flattened the thing! And he didn't even notice until like a week later."  
  
"Oh my gosh, I haven't thought about that in so long. I remember when he called dad and demanded to know what happened to his bushes."  
  
"Dad thought it was so funny that he couldn't get through yelling at us without laughing."  
  
"Oh those were the days..." Sarah sighed. God she missed her father....   
  
Jareth listened quietly as they reminisced occasionally eating some of his dinner. It was obvious that they were a close knit family and they had many memories together.   
  
"Can we go dancing after dinner?" Ary asked with a mouthful of fries.  
  
"Ary sweetie, please don't talk with your mouth full."  
  
She swallowed the food. "Sorry mommy. But can we dance after dinner? The back room is open and they are playing good music!"  
  
Cheryl laughed. "And how do you know what's good music?"  
  
"They're playing the same music that they play on the radio all the time."  
  
"Yeah they are playing some good stuff. I'm up for dancing. I'll bring the rest of my steak home so I don't lose it out on the floor." Toby said pushing his plate away from him.  
  
Cheryl elbowed her boyfriend. "Toby that's nasty, we don't need to hear about that while we're eating." Toby shrugged and Cheryl glanced over at Jareth. "Jareth, you've been pretty quiet. I hope we didn't make a bad impression."  
  
"Not at all." He smiled.   
  
"We could go home, if you don't want to go dancing..." Sarah told him. "You have been fairly quiet tonight. Are you all right?"  
  
'I'm fine." He smiled again and she reached for his hand squeezing it.   
  
"Will you dance with me?" She asked him.  
  
"Of course I will." He whispered softly.   
  
Sarah stood, still holding his hand. "We're going dancing." She announced. Jareth got to his feet quickly.  
  
"Have fun. We'll be out in a little while, as soon as Ary finishes eating." Cheryl told them.  
  
"Ok. We'll be waiting for you."  
  
Toby watched closely as Sarah led Jareth out onto the small dance floor. It was already crowded with people who had finished their meals. The music was a slow song, and Sarah reached for Jareth, putting one hand in his and her other hand on his shoulder. He grinned at her and slipped his hand onto her waist and they began to move slowly.   
  
Jareth closed his eyes for a moment and thought back to another time when they had danced. She was dressed in that beautiful white gown and he was in his favorite blue frock coat. He opened his eyes and smiled at her, grateful to be dancing with her again.  
  
Toby watched as they began to move slowly across the floor and how his sister moved closer and closer to the Goblin King, resting her head against his chest. To Toby he looked so out of place on the dance floor. He, like Sarah and Ary could see the real Goblin King with his wild hair, and strange clothing. Cheryl on the other hand saw him with his hair tied back, a blue t-shirt on and jeans. She didn't completely understand who Jareth was so she didn't see him in his true form. Toby continued to watch them. Jareth was running his fingers through his sister's hair and Sarah leaned against him, one hand holding onto the ruffles of his shirt collar. It was obvious that she cared a great deal about him and Toby realized that Jareth seemed to care for his sister. He was whispering something into her ear and she threw her head back, laughing.   
  
Toby prayed that Jareth wouldn't hurt her.   
  
"I'm done.. I'm done! I want to dance!" Ary jumped up out of her chair, throwing her napkin at the table and taking off for the dance floor before Toby or Cheryl could stop her. She ran straight for Jareth and her mother and they separated so that she could fit in between them and the three of them slow danced together.   
  
Cheryl smiled as she watched them. "Do you think he could be the one?" She asked Toby.  
  
Toby sat back in his seat and fiddled with his napkin. "I..I don't know. I mean Sarah really seems to care for him and Ary, god Ary loves him. He just better not hurt them."  
  
"Do you think he loves her? He seems to care a great deal about her, Ary too."  
  
"I know he does. Sarah told me herself a few weeks ago that he told her he loved her. She told me she wasn't sure how she felt about him so they agreed to be friends. They look closer than friends to me. I think my sister is falling for him." He admitted softly.  
  
Cheryl finally pulled her eyes away from the trio she watched on the dance floor. "Does that bother you?"  
  
"I don't know..I just don't want to see her hurt again."  
  
Cheryl reached over, squeezing his hand. "I know you don't Tobes. I know how much you love your sister and Ary and I know how much Sarah's depression affected you. But I think Jareth really cares about both of them."  
  
"Yeah I know. Hey, they have some good upbeat music playing right now. Let's go dance."  
  
'Ok."   
  
Cheryl and Toby rushed out to the dance floor where Sarah, Ary and Jareth were already dancing. They joined the group and soon everyone forgot about their pasts, their problems and just danced to their hearts content.. 


	12. Revelations...

AN: Oh man, you guys are all too funny about the clones! I knew I would start a monster with passing them out. Mine is getting me some breakfast and then he's going to help me get a load of hay for my horses. Fun having a slave isn't it?? Hee hee. Kmf, of course you can have a clone! I extended the offer to ALL my faithful readers and reviewers and that includes you hon! Your clone is on his way over!!  
  
Wow I'm on chapter 12 already. How did I get here so fast? This story is probably about half done, but don't hold me to that. These characters have a mind of their own so things might get extended. Enjoy. Please keep those reviews coming and thanks for continuing to leave them for me!   
  
  
Revelations....  
  
Jareth placed Aryanna's sleeping body gently on the back seat of Toby's Firebird. The night was chilly and he made a blanket with his magic for her. He could hear Sarah laughing with her brother and with Cheryl.   
  
"Sweet dreams, little one." He whispered to Ary and he quietly shut the car door. He made his way to Sarah and stood behind her. The night had grown very cold and the wind that whipped off the lake didn't help matters any. He could see that Sarah was trying to hide the fact that she was cold as she laughed and talked, but he didn't miss a thing. He casually slipped out of his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.   
  
She looked up at him and nodded her thanks to him. She really had changed. Long ago she would have bitterly opposed him and had he offered his coat to her, she probably would have tossed it back at him. He knew that she was older now, more mature and she obviously didn't have little temper tantrums as she did in his Labyrinth.   
  
"So we'll have to get together again, maybe next weekend?" She was saying.   
  
"That would be awesome. I had a great time tonight. We really should do this again." Toby told her.  
  
"Well someone is turning 21 next week so I thought it would be fun to get together and celebrate. 21 is a big step in your life Tobe."  
  
"Yeah yeah, as far as I'm concerned I already feel 21. It's not a big important thing to me anyway. I don't drink."  
  
"And I'm very glad that you don't. Because you speed in that car of yours and alcohol and speeding don't mix."  
  
"Ach, Sarah not this..."  
  
"You stay under the speed limit when my daughter is in the car."  
  
"You know that I do."  
  
"I know, I just want you to be careful."  
  
Toby stepped forward and hugged her. "I will be careful. I can drop Ary off tomorrow afternoon. Cheryl has to visit her mom's to pick up something so I'll be in the area."  
  
"That sounds great. At least you won't have a problem getting her to sleep tonight. She danced herself out."  
  
"That's for sure. Well dinner was fun. Call me and let me know what time is good to get together and where."  
  
"Ok I'll call. G;night."  
  
"Bye Sarah." Cheryl waved and she and Toby started toward his car. Toby turned back at the last second.   
  
"Remember what I said Goblin King!" He yelled back.   
  
Sarah looked up to Jareth who was standing beside her. His blond hair was nearly white in the moonlight. "What was that all about?"  
  
"Nothing for you to worry about." His voice was crisp and firm and she dropped the subject. They waved as Toby and Cheryl pulled away.  
  
"Ready to go home?" She pulled his jacket closer to her as the wind blasted her.   
  
"Not just yet. You go on home. I'm going for a flight."  
  
"A flight?" she looked confused for a moment. "OH yeah, the whole owl thing. I'd forgotten about that. Are you sure now is the best time for a flight? It's so cold?"  
  
"The cold doesn't bother me."   
  
He began to move away from her and she stopped him, grabbing his shoulder. He turned to face her. "Please be careful." He could see the worry in her eyes and it touched him deeply.   
  
He gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. "I will. I won't be late." She watched as he stepped into the woods and a few moments later a white barn owl was gliding over the tops of the trees. It was strange to watch it and to realize that it was Jareth. Watching the owl fly made her realize how different the two of them really were.   
  
She got into her car and started it up, letting it warm and then she started for home. She smiled as she thought about how the evening had gone. She was a little worried about what Toby had said to Jareth when they had all parted for the night. She prayed that her brother had not said anything rude to Jareth. She thought about him and how wonderful it felt to be in his arms again as they danced. This time there had been no awkwardness. No other dancers, spinning around them and sneering and laughing. They had been just two people, two friends dancing together.   
  
She pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door, driving the car in. She was about to get out when she glanced at Jareth's leather jacket which he had given her to wear. She had folded it on the seat beside her after the heat had kicked in and she no longer needed it. She reached over touching the soft brown leather with her fingertips. She had driven home alone and had been away from him only about twenty minutes and already she missed him. With a deep sigh she realized something that made her heart beat wildly. She was falling for the Goblin King.   
  
  
Jareth soared over the tall pine trees that surrounded the lake with ease. It was a cold night, but in owl form he was cold blooded and cold didn't bother him as much as it bothered him in humanoid form. He needed to get away from Sarah. He needed to think. He loved her so much that it hurt sometimes and as much as he wanted her to love him in return he would not force the issue upon her. She was well aware of what he felt for her. Perhaps she didn't know the sheer magnitude of his feelings, but she did know that they existed. He shuddered to think what she would say if she knew how he dreamt of her every night since she left him. He became obsessed with her and he still was now. He had not looked at another woman since she had captured his heart. He kept his lonely, insolent vigil over his kingdom. As King he was expected to do no less. And now he was staying with her. With her and her beautiful daughter. He would have smiled if the form of his beak would have allowed it. Aryanna was a charming girl, a little too bubbly at times, but that didn't change his feelings for her. She was the child he always wanted and never had, just as Sarah was the women he had waited his entire life for.  
  
He wanted nothing more to allow both of them into his life permanently. Then there was the issue of Sarah's brother of course. How dare the little mortal. He dared to threaten the Goblin King? Jareth felt the rage build within him. Wasn't it obvious to the boy that he had only good intentions where Sarah and Aryanna were concerned? But then again Toby was only trying to protect his family. Before Jareth had shown up Toby was the only man in Sarah and Ary's lives. Jareth knew that their father had died as well as Sarah's step mother or Toby's mother. He didn't know the circumstances, he just knew that they had passed on. He shook his head and tried to settle his anger. The boy had good intentions as he did.   
  
He took a deep breath and then turned the far parameter of the lake. It was growing later and Sarah would no doubt be worried if he stayed out too long. The wind felt good as it touched his feathers. It had been so long since he had flown, had even used his magic. He was growing out of touch with his own realm and that was dangerous. He would return soon, perhaps he would stay a few days and show his subjects that he had not abandoned them for the mortal world.   
  
  
Sarah sat on the couch and then less then a minute later she got up and began to pace the length of the living room. It was after 1 o clock in the morning and Jareth had still not returned. She was worried out of her mind and was ready to jump in the car and search for him. He could be anywhere she realized but she didn't care. She'd waited long enough. She rushed to the hall closet and reached for her coat when she heard a crash out on the back patio. She froze in place. She prayed that someone was not trying to break into the house. She heard the back door rattling, but she realized to her relief that it was locked. She heard a groan that caught her attention and she rushed into the kitchen, flipping on the lights in the room as well as the patio lights. She unlocked the door quickly, her fingers slipping from the lock as she moved too fast. Finally, unlocked she pulled the door open and Jareth fell towards her. She let out a muffled cry as her hands covered her mouth. He caught himself at the last second and balanced himself on the doorframe. The white sleeve of his right arm was soaked with blood and it was torn from his shoulder to his elbow.   
  
He was clearly in terrible pain as he balanced himself. She reached for him quickly pulling him into the house so that no one would see him and to her horror she saw Linda standing on her deck watching the whole scene.   
  
Once Jareth was inside she helped him steady himself. He was terribly weak and he wobbled as she tried to support him. He was covered in sweat, his long hair matted to his face and the front of his shirt soaked with it.   
  
"Jareth what happened to you??" her voice was full of fear, of absolute fear and panic.  
  
A whimper was her only reply. She slipped under his left arm and helped him walk slowly up the stairs. She kicked the door to his room open and helped him lay down on his bed. She rushed into the bathroom pulling out pans, grabbing gauze, towels, medicine, anything she could find to help him. She went quickly back to his room and reached for his injured arm. She griped the flimsy silk of his shirt into her hands and pulled. The shirt ripped easily and she gasped when she saw his injury. There was a giant gash running from his shoulder to his elbow. He needed stitches and medical attention. She couldn't do anything about this!  
  
"I'm calling an ambulance. You need to go to the hospital, right now!" She turned to dash out of the room and get the phone but stopped when she heard his anguished voice.   
  
"No...I...can't go there...."  
  
She spun at him, anger and grief all over her face. "Jareth I can't take care of this. It's too serious."  
  
His head was lifted from the pillow as he spoke to her. "Sarah you must....I ...I can't..." he groaned and a shudder wracked his body. His head fell back and he closed his eyes tightly.   
  
"Jareth!!" she rushed to him. Her hand settled on his forehead and she pulled it back quickly. He was burning up with a terrible fever and he was going into shock. She turned to her attention his injury and quickly set to the task of stopping the bleeding. He groaned as she dabbed it with towels and wrapped it to put pressure on it. She put a damp cool cloth on his forehead. She pulled his boots from his feet, throwing them out of her way and she draped blankets over him to keep him warm. She checked the wound and the bleeding was thankfully slowing. She would have to wrap it in fresh towels as she didn't have large enough wrap to cover it. She'd have to drive the pharmacy in town as soon as they opened in the morning.   
  
She desperately wished she had something to help take his pain away, but she didn't have anything strong enough to help him. He was barely conscious and she panicked. Then she remembered the crystal that he had given her for her headaches. Perhaps it would help him. She rushed down the stairs nearly falling and breaking her neck. She reached for her purse and slipped her hand inside finding the smooth glass sphere sitting at the bottom. She rushed back up the stairs and slid into his room.   
  
She reached for his hand under the blankets and pulled the black glove from it, placing the crystal in his fingers. He seemed to relax instantly, the furrows in his brow disappearing. She let out a sigh and sat beside him on the bed. He was sleeping now. She touched the damp strands of hair that hung in his eyes. The fever still burned within him and that worried her. But there was not much else she could do. She wanted desperately to bring him to the hospital, so she would know if he would be ok, but she realized she couldn't. They would realize that he was different... that he wasn't from her world.   
  
She touched his face with the back of her hand, tears stinging her eyes. What the hell had happened to him? How had he been injured? Tears began to stream down her face and she didn't bother wiping them away. She brushed his hair back from his face and then fell softly onto the bed beside him. She buried her face into the pillow by his neck and began to sob.   
  
She picked up her head, tears still streaming down her face as she touched his face, pleading with him. "Please...." She choked. "Please don't...leave me...you said you....wouldn't leave me...."  
  
Her face fell forward against his chest and she let her tears flow freely. He couldn't leave her now...Not now when she had finally realized that she loved him. 


	13. Don't leave me...

AN: I usually don't like to do this, posting TWO chapters in the same day but I'll put you all out of your misery. I feel generous today. Besides I won't have time to post tomorrow. Busy day. Actually busy weekend coming. So unfortunately this is it until Monday unless I get some unexpected free time. Let me know what you think. Crow, that's so funny that you thought about jareth pushing the grocery cart. When I was writing that chapter I had pictured the same thing! Great minds think alike! Sorry about my evil cliffhangers everyone, but sometimes they have to be done. Enjoy...  
  
  
  
Don't leave me....  
  
Jareth opened his eyes slowly. Something didn't feel quite right. The bright light of morning streamed through the metal blinds that were in the windows of his room, making patterns on the wood floor. There was something lying on his chest and he looked down surprised to see Sarah curled up against him. She was sleeping, her long dark hair hanging in her face. He reached for her with his right hand when suddenly pain shot through him and he groaned softly. He glanced at his arm to see it was wrapped with towels and then he remembered the previous night and his accident. He felt something in the palm of his left hand and he didn't need the use of his eyes to sense the all too familiar crystal sphere that he had once given Sarah.   
  
His left arm was numb from Sarah laying on it all night as she slept against him. Even in sleep she looked tired. He desperately tried to remember what had happened. He remembered her helping him upstairs and into the bed after he had come staggering into the house. The look of horror on her face had not gone unnoticed from him. And he remembered her wrapping his arm and the worried, frantic look on her face had been there as well. She had been so afraid.   
  
Everything else seemed to be hazy to him. The pain had been so great that he had very nearly blacked out. That was when he felt something warm spread over him, lulling him to sleep and he willingly gave in. The crystal...  
  
He glanced around the room that was basked in morning sunlight and saw his white shirt, covered in blood crumpled and ripped on the floor beside the bed. He stared at it slightly confused at first and then he remembered that Sarah had ripped it away from his injury and then had ripped the rest of the fabric from his body. She had placed blankets over him to keep him warm. There were basins, bloodied towels and cloth strewn carelessly all over the room, bottles of ointment on the small table by his bed. She had tried her hardest to tend to his needs.   
  
She shifted in her sleep and he watched her. She was upset, angry or worried. Her brows were furrowed causing lines to appear on her forehead and she was clutching the blanket that was spread over him in one fist tightly.   
  
"Sarah...Sarah" he called softly.   
  
Her head shot up quickly, her eyes wide. "Jareth?" She looked up at him and he gave her a weak smile. Tears filled her eyes and her face fell forward into his neck as she began to sob.   
  
Jareth reached for her with his left hand, the feeling beginning to return to his arm. He buried his bare hand into her soft hair and stroked it as she sobbed against him.   
  
She rose from him slowly, tears still streaming down her cheeks, but the sobs had subsided. "I was so scared....I thought you were going to...going to die..." She choked out the last word, her hazel eyes were filled with worry and fear. He could only imagine the night she had gone through.   
  
He reached up brushing her tears away with the back of his fingers. She reached for his hand with her own and held it tightly to her face. He was warm and alive...  
  
Did he know how scared she had been? She had stayed up half the night watching over him, praying that he would see the light of another day and that she would see those eyes looking at her again. She wanted to feel the warmth of his embrace. Finally exhausted from worrying, crying and watching over him, she had unwillingly fallen asleep when she leaned against him.   
  
"Not a chance." He whispered softly. "I'm immortal Sarah...."  
  
Her eyes widened. She had forgotten. How completely stupid of her. She had forgotten that he had told her that he was immortal. Who else could live to be 634 years old?   
  
"You forgot.." He noticed the look of shock on her face. He remembered telling her. They have been grocery shopping. He had joked with her that he had eaten enough chicken to last his immortal life. Perhaps she had not heard him or not understood? He gazed at her hoping to see relief on her features but he didn't see them. She was still concerned...   
  
"Immortal or not Jareth, you scared the hell out of me!... You didn't look immortal last night. Not when you came staggering into the house after I opened the back door and certainly not when you were feverish and and...your arm. You were hurt..." She was trembling as she sat beside him on the bed.   
  
His thumb smoothed over her soft skin. "I'm immortal Sarah... not invincible. I'm prone to illness, and injury just as you are. The only difference is that after I have suffered, I heal and move on. Illness and injury are not life threatening. They can be agonizing but they won't kill me."  
  
"Well how the hell was I supposed to know that!" She roared. She turned from him, twirling her hair on her fingers. "God, Jareth. I was so scared. I really thought that you were going to die." Her voice was soft and the concern and fear were again present. She looked into his eyes and then her gaze fell to his injured arm. "What happened to you?"  
  
"Never fly and decide to do your thinking at the same time..." He chuckled, trying to joke. She regarded him not at all amused and he sighed, continuing. " I needed to think, it was the reason I wanted to take a flight. I..I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I crashed into a very sharp pole protruding from the side of a building by the lake."  
  
'By the lake? The lake is far from here. How did you manage to get back to the house?"  
  
"I was able to use some of my magic to hide the pain and I glided back. I crashed in the back yard and used the last of my strength to transform."  
  
"I can't believe with all your magic...you can't..." her words faded.   
  
"There are many things I can't do Sarah. I can't heal myself, I can't heal others." He looked at her longingly. * I can't make you love me... * .He stroked the skin of her face a moment longer and then sighed.   
  
"When some of my strength returns I must return to my castle. My healer will be able to tend to this injury and when I have fully healed I shall come back to you."  
  
"You're going to leave me?" She looked timid.   
  
"Only for a few days. I will return quickly." He reached for her face, pushing back the hair that once again had fallen into her eyes.  
  
She hated the idea that she wouldn't be able to see him for a few days but she didn't want him laid up in bed either. She wanted him to be at full strength and his arm healed so that when she told him what she felt for him he would hold her in his embrace tightly, never letting go.   
  
"Are you hungry?"  
  
"A little."  
  
She pressed her lips to his forehead finding the skin cool. "Your fever broke."  
  
"The crystal." He said simply.  
  
"But the crystal you gave me was your own magic."  
  
"Not exactly."  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"I cheated a little. I made the crystal from my magic as well as the magic of my healer. I knew I couldn't possibly keep your headaches from not returning, but I didn't want you to be in pain. My healer gladly sent me some of her magic to help."  
  
Should she tell him that she had figured out why the headaches had gone? Did he know that it wasn't magic, not really. It was the stress that he had taken away that made the headaches fade. No longer did she worry about rushing home to get Ary from the bus, he was always there to get her. And dinner? She barely had to cook anymore with him around. She had gotten a promotion at work and Marcy and Stephanie had left her alone since her outburst. Everything had fallen into place when he had walked back into her life. No she wouldn't tell him that it wasn't the crystal's magic. When the time was right she would tell him that it was his magic...it was him...  
  
"That's why the crystal healed you. It wasn't your magic."  
  
"It didn't heal me, but it put me at ease. You were smart to remember it."  
  
"I didn't even know if it was going to work, but nothing I had would have helped to take away the pain you were in."  
  
"You saved me a great deal of pain...and I thank you for that."   
  
She nodded and was silent for a moment. "Would you like some soup?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
She tried to smile and she placed a kiss on his forehead, disappearing from the room. Jareth let out a deep sigh after she had gone. It was growing more and more difficult for him to hide his feelings from her, to oppress his love and desire for her...especially when she touched him, or smiled at him. And her concern and fear for his well being was nearly his undoing...Yet he had told her they would remain friends. He loved her more then life itself and he would keep his word. Even if he had to suffer in silence.   
  
She returned with the soup a short while later. She helped him to sit up, propping the pillows against the headboard so that he could rest his back against them. He attempted to eat on his own at first, but he was feeding the blankets of the bed more than he was feeding himself. He couldn't keep his hand steady enough to get the spoon into his mouth and the soup spilled everywhere.   
  
"Here, let me." She said softly, taking the spoon into her hand. She sat beside him on the bed and stirred the soup. She lifted the spoon to his lips and he sipped it slowly. She repeated the process a few more times, mildly aware that his eyes were focused intently on her. She looked elsewhere.. "When will you be strong enough to return to your castle?" She asked quietly lifting the spoon to his lips. He sipped the soup and swallowed.   
  
"I should be well enough to travel tonight if I sleep for the remainder of the day."  
  
"Ary will be coming home late this afternoon. She's going to be upset that you aren't here." She told him offering him another spoonful of soup.  
  
"I will make sure to leave before she arrives. I don't want to alarm her with my condition. I trust that you will tell her what happened." He sipped the soup.  
  
She nodded. "Yes, I'll tell her that you had an accident and needed to return home, but that you'll be back." She wasn't looking at him and that worried him.  
  
He reached for her chin with his left hand, tilting her face up so that her eyes met his. "Make her understand Sarah, that I WILL return." She knew that he was trying to reassure her as well. He wanted her to know that he would return to her, unlike another in her life who had abandoned her and never returned.  
  
"She'll understand." She fed him the rest of the soup and re-wrapped his arm. He wouldn't allow her to go to the store and buy bandaging so she used more towels. After she wrapped his arm, she left him to sleep. She left the door slightly ajar so that she could check on him. And she did nearly every 5 minutes during the first half hour. Finally 45 minutes later he was sleeping and soundly.   
  
She was a mess inside. Her worry had subsided slightly when he reassured her that he would live, but she still trembled within. She didn't want him to leave her, even if it was only for a few days. She never wanted him to leave her.   
  
It was later in the afternoon when she checked on him and she saw that he was standing, or swaying as he stepped into his boots. She could see that he was still very weak, although he would never admit that.   
Then he was trying to get into a fresh shirt and he was failing miserably. His arm was sore and hurt like hell and it was nearly useless to him. He grunted with frustration as the white shirt once again fell from his grasp to the floor. She watched him for a moment as he bent to pick it up and failed once again at trying to dress himself in it.   
  
"Stupid arm..." he spit angrily.   
  
She opened the door, not being able to stand watching him suffer any longer. He may be a creature of magic and power but he suffered too. He hadn't heard the door creak open and he stood with his back facing her, gazing angrily at his arm.   
  
She picked up the shirt off the floor and stepped in front of him with it.   
  
"Let me help you.." her voice was soft and his anger dissipated quickly. No one had ever seen him so vulnerable before and had she been someone else he would have let his fury erupt at her, but she was Sarah. She was the only one he would ever show his real self to, the only one he would ever allow to help him and the only one who would ever see him when he was vulnerable. Did she know that?  
  
She slowly pulled the sleeve over his injured arm and walked around the back of him bringing the shirt to his other arm. He slipped it within the sleeve effortlessly.   
  
"Now why couldn't I have done that?" he whispered. She smiled sweetly and pulled the shirt together in the front, reaching for the bottom buttons. But her eyes were not focused on the buttons, they were focused on the pale, smooth skin of his chest and abdomen. She had forced herself to concentrate on the task of feeding his soup to him earlier that day. But her eyes, had wandered to his bare chest more then once. A pale, chest that had been devoid of all clothing. Only his necklace broke the continuity of the pale skin her eyes had roamed greedily over. And now she was staring at him again. He was a magnet that drew her eyes to him.  
  
She quickly buttoned the bottom button of his shirt, her fingers lingering over the next button as she gazed at his skin. He was slender, but not too slender. Soft blonde hair faintly traced over his chest. He had some muscle tone, not too much, but not too little. Her fingers grazed over his skin as she carefully buttoned upward. She felt and heard him take a deep breath as she accidentally touched him. But had that last touch been an accident, or that one or the one that came after that...? Her heart was pounding in her chest. She wanted to take his clothes off, not put them on.   
  
The last button was finally clasped and she stood just staring at him, her gaze rising slowly from the low neckline of his shirt, up his neck and throat to his chin, his nose and resting finally on his amazing eyes. His mismatched orbs were filled with longing and sadness and she felt her heart constrict. He didn't want to leave her either, she was sure of it.   
  
There was the sudden sound of a car driving into the driveway and Sarah knew that it was Toby bringing Aryanna home. She fell against Jareth with a sob and he stroked her hair with his left hand.   
  
"Please don't go...." She pleaded.  
  
'I have to Sarah. And the sooner I leave, the sooner I can return." He stepped away from her abruptly, and began to fade from her eyes. If he lingered over saying goodbye to her, he would never leave.  
  
'No!" she cried. "Jareth! Jareth, don't go...please!" But he was gone and she was alone within the room. She stood gazing at the place he once stood. "I love you..." she whispered with tears streaming down her cheeks. And then she collapsed to the floor among the bloodied towels and the tattered remains of his white poet's shirt. She reached for the shirt and buried her face into the silky fabric, sobbing. 


	14. I miss you....

AN: You guys are all too much for me!! I'm telling you. CrystalMagic: Girl you made me ROTFLMAO! Just too funny. And you too Crow! How did your clones like the concert? I'm sure they fit right in.Yes yes I'm sure that you are all wondering where I got all this Goblin King DNA from to make these wonderful clones but I'm afraid that's a secret that I don't want to share : ) Anyway, I'm glad the clones have been a big success with my readers. Be sure to keep me updated on how the are doing.   
  
Well I decided to write when I came in from work last night so here is a chapter for today. There should be more on Monday if I have a chance to write tonight. Don't know if I will have the chance to write tonight but I will try. Going out with my girls from work for dinner. After working 7 hours on a busy Sunday, boy do we need that!   
  
Disclaimers: boy have I gotten lazy. I don't own the original characters from Labyrinth. 'Nough said.   
  
  
I miss you....  
  
  
The sound of two car doors slamming shut brought Sarah out of her pity party. She sighed deeply and rushed to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face to hide the fact that she had been crying. She rushed back to Jareth's room to toss the towels down the laundry shoot and to clean up the basins and return the medicine to the cabinet.   
  
"He's only going for a few days" she told herself as she glanced at the empty room. "It's not like he's never coming back." But despite trying to reassure herself she still felt worry in the pit of her stomach. She changed quickly after realizing that she was in the same clothes as the night before. She didn't want to alarm Toby. He was very protective of her as it was and she didn't want him to worry.   
  
She rushed down the stairs just as Toby and Aryanna were walking in the front door. Toby set her backpack and Lancelot down on the floor.   
  
"Mommy!!" The little girl raced to her mother hugging her tightly.   
  
"There's my big girl. Did you have fun at Toby's?"  
  
"Of course I did !"  
  
"I'm afraid I can't hang around with you and chat, Cheryl needs to be at her mom's by 4 and it's nearly that now. Call me and let me know about next weekend." Toby told her.  
  
"Will do Tobe." Sarah waved as he stepped out the door, closing it behind him. She breathed a sigh of relief that he had not noticed she'd been crying and had not asked about Jareth.  
  
"Where's Jareth mommy?" The question hung in the air for a moment.  
  
Sarah's heart sank as her daughter glanced around the house. She kneeled before her daughter and put her hands on her shoulders. "I have to tell you something and I need you to handle it like a big girl, ok?" Ary nodded. "Jareth got into an accident and he had to go back home."  
  
"Is he ok? Is he coming back?"  
  
"Yes he's ok, he just needed someone back at his castle to take care of him. He said that he would come back in a few days."  
  
Ary pouted. "He didn't even say good bye to me."  
  
Sarah smiled and pulled her daughter to her. "You only say good bye to someone when you leave and don't intend to come back. Jareth is coming back." Sarah pulled back and Ary nodded.   
  
"But who is going to help me study for my spelling test? And who is going to get me off the bus in the afternoon?"  
  
"I will sweetie. Just like I used to before Jareth came." Sarah pushed her daughters long dark hair behind her ears.   
  
"Ok Mommy."  
  
"That's my girl. Now why don't you go put Lancelot in your room and put your bag on your bed and I'll start dinner. Then maybe we could watch a movie together. How does that sound?"  
  
"Sounds like fun."  
  
Sarah placed a kiss on her head and Ary began to drag her things top the stairs. She turned as she reached the bottom step.  
  
"Who's going to make you smile Mommy and laugh?"   
  
Sarah was startled by the question but she forced herself to take it in stride. "You will sweetie. Like you always have." Aryanna seemed content with the answer for now and she trudged up the stairs with her things. Sarah sighed. It was going to be a long next few days.   
  
  
  
Jareth materialized in his chambers and immediately called for the healer. The pain in his arm was unbearable as his magic was wearing off. He's used almost all his strength to hide his pain from Sarah and to return to his castle. Pain and injury were a new thing to him. He had lived a sheltered life in his castle for hundreds of years. What most people knew to be life experiences were nothing more then stories to him. But the pain in his arm was very real.   
  
He felt terrible about leaving Sarah, but he couldn't deal with the pain any longer. It was too much for him. And he needed the feel of magic around him. He had been in the mortal world for too long. Yet he wanted to return to it and quickly. He wanted to see Sarah again. Her cries still echoed in his ears. She had not wanted him to go.  
  
He paced the length of his chambers. His boots clicking on the stone floor. He was still weak and his steps were unbalanced but he didn't care. All he cared about was for the pain to be gone so that he could return to Sarah.   
  
There was a light tap on the door. "Come in!"  
  
He expected the healer to enter as the large oak door opened, but in her place was one of his Goblin Guards. "Yer Highness" he bowed.   
  
"What is it? Where is the healer I sent for?" He barked angrily.   
  
"Begging yer pardon yer highness but she is in the Gardens. She will arrive as soon as she can."  
  
'I want her here now! Go fetch her!" He cried angrily. The Goblin King was back in full force.  
  
"Yes yer Highness." And the goblin was gone.   
  
Jareth collapsed on the end of his bed. Anger, now there was an emotion he had not felt in a very long time. Ever since he had been with Sarah and Aryanna he had not felt it. He had been carefree, calm, and completely under Sarah's spell.   
  
He sighed. By the bog, he wanted her. He had never wanted something so badly in all of his life. He knew he was good looking. The women always swooned over him at the masked balls held every so often within the Underground. But they always fell at his feet. He didn't want more slaves. He didn't want women to throw themselves down for him. Of course he had not minded that when he was younger, but now...everything had changed since Sarah. He had learned to love. He snorted. His father warned him that it would happen. And it had. The emotion had taken such a hold on him that sometimes he couldn't breathe properly.   
  
He looked at the mirror on the opposite side of the room. He longed to see Sarah. To see if she was all right and what she was doing, but he didn't have the strength to conjure her image. He wouldn't have the strength for several more days. The next few days would be agony without her. How had he allowed himself to fall so far for her? To fall so deeply? She was a mere mortal and he was...he was...sigh... totally in love with her...She was all he could think about. He sighed, closing his eyes and calling her image into his mind. He could see her laughing and smiling at the restaurant. He remembered how she moved close to him to dance. She was beautiful in the colored lights as they danced. And she was still so strong. Despite the fact that tears filled her eyes easily at times, the fact that she had not given up on life itself amazed him. He always knew that she was strong. He let out a long-winded sigh. By the bog he loved her...Would she ever love him in return?  
  
There was another knock at the door and Jareth's eyes shot open.  
  
He got to his feet quickly, ignoring the dizziness that threatened him. "Enter!" he called loudly.   
  
"Your majessssty."   
  
"Ah, Megmora. About time you showed up."   
  
His healer stepped into the room. To most she was a hideous creature with her scaly green skin, sharp teeth, yellow eyes, long tail and the plain dress she wore looked out of place on her.. She may not have been blessed with beauty but she was blessed with the power to heal. Her kind were not beautiful by mortal and even most immortal beings standards. Only those who loved fairytales found dragons to be amazing creatures. Megmora was only half dragon, her other half unknown. It was rare for a dragon to breed outside of their species but her mother had. Megmora had been cast from the land of the dragons due to her being a half-breed and her mother Lytica had asked the Goblin King to look over her daughter. And he had. She was wonderful to have around with her healing powers which he could add to his own and her no nonsense way with the goblins. Had he a council she would have been his advisor. She possessed the knowledge of the last 17 generations on her mother's side. She knew much more about the world then he ever would.   
  
"My King hassss ussse for my healing?" The surprise was evident in her voice. The Goblin King rarely called on her to heal himself.   
  
"Yes Megmora."   
  
The half dragon stepped around her King closing her eyes as she circled him. "I sssensee great pain... Pain that hasss occurred while within the mortal world."  
  
"Yes Megmora. I need to be healed and quickly."  
  
"Quickly can not be done...Thisss injury issss too ssseriousss for quickly. Thisss isss not a ssscratch, but a deep gasssh."  
  
"Then do what you can for now. I must be healed within a few days."  
  
She gestured for him to sit on the bed and he did so. She didn't even have to touch him to work her healing powers on him. He felt the warmth of her magic and the pain in his arm lessened.   
  
  
"The presssence of a mortal woman issss all around you.... One who issss familiar. One who hassss traveled the Labyrinth before..."   
  
By the Bog he hated her intuition. "Yes." He said mildly aware of the arrogance in his voice.   
  
"Sssshe isss the one."  
  
"One what?" He snapped.   
  
Megmora smiled. But did not reply.  
  
'One what?" He repeated. He hated when she played mind games with him. That was his job, not hers.  
  
"The one..who sssstole your heart." Her yellow eyes were shinning. She knew of Sarah's powerful hold over him.  
  
Jareth jerked away from her, the motion breaking the magic she fed him. He didn't enjoy that she could read him like a book. Megmora said nothing further on the matter and attended the wound.   
  
"That isss the bessst I can do for now."  
  
"You shall return in the morning and continue the healing. I want to be fully healed in 4 days."  
  
Megmora nodded and bowed. Without a word she left the Goblin King alone.   
  
"Is it that obvious??" he asked aloud after she had gone. His voiced echoed off the cold stone walls. "Does everyone know that I love her?"  
  
No not everyone knew. Megmora was gifted. She knew more then most. His goblins didn't care about such things and they had never caught him staring longingly out the window thinking of her. They were too stupid to notice such things and for that he was glad. He let out a sigh. His arm was still tingly from the effects of Megmora's magic. Already he felt stronger. He glanced at the mirror again. He might be able to see her now, but if he used the small amount of strength he had, he would have to start all over again with the healing process. He didn't want to spend any unnecessary time away from Sarah and Ary. He would use no magic until he was at full strength.   
  
  
Sleep eluded Sarah and for what felt like the hundredth time she glanced at the clock. Good grief. Only 3 o clock. She still had a few hours to go before it was time to get up. She couldn't sleep, all she could think about was Jareth. He had been gone only for the evening and she missed him like crazy. She and Ary had eaten dinner together like old times and had sat down with a huge bowl of popcorn to watch a movie. She enjoyed the time spent with her daughter but she knew deep down inside that she wished Jareth could have been with them. She knew Ary felt the same way. Jareth had been a part of their lives for a month now and it felt so strange for him not to be cooking in front of the stove or to be bidding Ary or herself good night. She wanted to see him again so badly.   
  
She had over reacted terribly when he had left, pleading with him not to go. Crying her heart out after he had gone. And even though he told her he would return, a horrible fear still gripped her. What if he didn't return? She shuddered to think about it, but it was a completely realistic and possible scenario. And what then? What would happen then? She knew what. Her heart would be broken again and this time there would be no putting the pieces back together. She had not loved a man since Adam. The pain of what he had done to her and their daughter had been too much to bear. There were times when she believed she would never love another man again, that she didn't want to love another man. Then there were other times when she and Ary were out running errands and she would see a couple together that she would long for a man in her life.   
  
She hadn't been held, touched, comforted and loved in 8 years. That was a terribly long time to be alone. She wasn't completely alone. She had Ary, Toby and Cheryl was like a sister to her, but they couldn't fill the empty void that only a man could fill. A man who loved her and whom she loved in return. Jareth had started filling that void and she longed for him to fill it completely. Those lonely 8 years would have been worth it, if she could have him in her life.   
  
She had fallen for him easily. And how could she not? He was so wonderful with her daughter. Ary loved him already. And he was so careful with herself and he made sure she didn't do things that she would regret. He had been a complete gentleman. Who would have thought that Jareth, the arrogant Goblin King who had once stolen her brother would have been the man she would have fallen so deeply in love with?  
Who would have thought that he would be the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with? Lord she missed him...  
  
She rolled over looking at the clock. 3:25. God how she wanted time to fly. 


	15. Aryanna's Dreams...

AN: hi everyone. Here is the next chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews. Keep 'em coming!!  
  
  
Aryanna's Dreams....  
  
  
The next morning turned out to be a disaster. After getting Aryanna on the bus Linda had come marching over.   
  
"Just what the hell are you harboring in your house? Some kind of freak?" She demanded an answer, putting her hands on her chubby sides.   
  
Sarah blinked, unsure of what she was referring to. "I..I beg your pardon?"  
  
"You know what I'm talking about! That man! The one who goes out with you every morning to put your daughter on the bus. Tall, long blonde hair. I saw you know! I saw what happened last night."  
  
Sarah held back a gasp that tried to escape he lips. She'd completely forgotten about Linda seeing Jareth come staggering into her house.   
  
"What the hell is he? He isn't a normal man. He's some kind of freak. I saw an owl land in your backyard and then suddenly it wasn't an owl but a man. The same man that you've been keeping in your house."  
  
Sarah made herself breathe. She would handle this calmly. She wouldn't let Linda get the better of her. She gave a chuckle and Linda regarded her coldly. "Oh my goodness!" she started laughing out loud now. "Jareth...an owl???" She grabbed her sides as laughter took over.   
  
"I saw the owl turn into him!! I saw it!!"  
  
Sarah laughed a little more and then turned to the obnoxious woman. "You must have been dreaming."  
  
"I wasn't dreaming! I saw it with my own two eyes!"  
  
Sarah turned back toward her house. "Well maybe you need to have your eyes checked out." She started walking back to the house.  
  
"I'll tell everyone in the neighborhood that you're keeping a freak in your house!"  
  
Sarah turned back to Linda and gave her a cold hard stare. "You do that Linda. Go and tell the whole world if you want to. Do you really think that anyone is going to believe you?"  
She turned and was gone, leaving the plump blond haired woman fuming at the end of her driveway.  
  
The first three days without Jareth were slow and agonizing days to Sarah. She couldn't concentrate at work, couldn't focus on anything but him. She missed him so much that it hurt. She missed the yellow rose that was usually on her desk every morning along with a small phrase written in his elegant hand to make her day more bearable. She missed his company at dinner and around the house. She missed the sound of his voice, deep, gentle and accented. She missed his touch, his wild blond hair and those strange clothes he wore that she had grown so fond of. She missed everything about him...  
  
Aryanna made her days bearable and without her daughter Sarah knew she would have slipped into the depression she faced before Jareth had come into their lives.   
  
She and Ary spent a lot of time going shopping, watching movies. They did anything to busy their time, to make it go by faster. Sarah enjoyed this time spent with her daughter and realized how selfish she had been in not doing more with her in the past. She felt incredibly guilty for allowing her depression in the past to interfere with her relationship and time spent with her daughter. She knew that Ary was a special girl. She was intelligent, happy and she wanted to help others because it made her feel better.   
  
So in those first few days Sarah spent as much time with her daughter as she could. It helped her to keep Jareth out of her mind at times, but at night her anguish assaulted her viciously and sleep was hard to come by. She wanted to see him again. She needed to see him again.   
  
She began to panic when 5 days had passed and still he had not returned. She sometimes waited by mirrors or stood by the doors that opened out to the deck in her own bedroom. She knew that he was immortal and that he would live, but she was still worried and very frightened. She showed her feelings to no one and bottled them up inside herself. She didn't wish for Ary to worry about her. The little girl had handled Jareth's absence very well and she was smart enough to not ask her mother when he was coming back. They both didn't know the answer. Jareth had only promised to be gone for a few days.   
  
A few days turned into a week and Sarah's panic was beginning to show. She'd been a nervous wreck at work and had botched up 2 reports for Jake on Friday alone. She knew if she didn't pull herself together that she would be demoted or maybe even fired.  
  
It was Sunday and Jareth had been gone exactly a week. Today was Toby's birthday and Sarah had made plans with her brother to have a small party. He and Cheryl were going to come to her house and they would sit and talk, have dinner and birthday cake. Sarah and Ary worked hard, cleaning the house and running the errands. They picked up a birthday cake from the local bakery as well as a chicken from the market. They spent the afternoon setting out the good china and silverware and cooking the chicken. Toby loved chicken dinners and that's exactly what he would get. A chicken dinner with the works.   
  
"Mommy, Uncle Toby and Cheryl are here!!" Aryanna cried rushing from the bay window.   
  
"Ok ok!" Sarah called from the kitchen. "Let them in."   
  
"Happy Birthday Uncle Toby!!" Ary cried as she opened the door.   
  
Toby scooped her up into his arms and walked into the house. He kissed her on the cheek and put her down. "Thanks Ary. Ooh something smells good."  
  
Sarah stepped out of the kitchen doorway with a smile on her face. "Hi Tobe." She reached for him, hugging him tightly. "Happy Birthday."  
  
"Thanks sis. Do I smell what I think I smell coming from the kitchen?"  
  
Ary giggled. "What do you think it is Uncle Toby?"  
  
"Chicken dinner."  
  
Sarah smiled. "Nose like a bloodhound." She joked releasing her brother.   
  
"Thanks Sarah." He told her kissing her cheek. "You shouldn't have gone through all of this trouble."  
  
"It wasn't any trouble. And even if it was, my baby brother is worth it." She smiled. "Hey Cheryl." She reached for Toby's girlfriend and the two women hugged.   
  
"Hi Sarah. It really does smell wonderful."  
  
"Well let's put your coats in the closet here and then eat." Sarah suggested.   
  
"Hey where is Jareth?" Cheryl asked suddenly. Sarah felt her heart constrict at the name. Toby didn't miss the look that briefly flitted across her features.   
  
"He.um.. He had to go home for a little while. He should be back in a few days." Sarah told her, busying herself with hanging up her brother and girlfriend's coats. Sarah flashed Ary a look and the little girl knew not to say anything about Jareth. She's already been warned a head of time.   
  
Toby stepped forward giving Sarah another kiss on the cheek. "Let's eat this chicken dinner that you two prepared for us, hmm?" Sarah smiled and nodded.   
  
  
The night went by fairly quickly. Dinner was full of laughter and reminiscing like it had been at Eddy's the weekend before. Sarah gave Toby some money for his birthday and Aryanna had made him a card. It was growing late and Cheryl offered to tuck Ary in and tell her a bedtime story. Toby and Sarah used the time to talk downstairs in the living room.   
  
"So Jareth left." He started off.   
  
"He didn't leave." She told him. They were sitting on the couch together.   
  
"Well he isn't here." Toby told her gesturing around him.   
  
"Toby..."  
  
"Sarah. I thought he was so devoted to you. I saw you two on the dance floor at Eddy's. Where the hell is he now?"  
  
"He had to go home."  
  
"For a week and no word from him?"  
  
"How did you...? Ary." Sarah said angrily.  
  
"Don't yell at her. I begged the info out of her while you were wrapping up the leftovers. I knew something was going on when Cheryl mentioned his name. Where the hell did he go?"  
  
"Home, ok? Something happened to him and he got hurt, injured and he went home."  
  
"You mean he went back to the Labyrinth?"  
  
"Yes!" tears stung Sarah's eyes.   
  
"You miss him, don't you?" She nodded, feeling miserable. Toby pulled her to him and Sarah rested her head on her brother's shoulder.   
  
"I miss him terribly, Toby." She admitted truthfully. Her brother was one of the few people she would ever share her feelings with.   
  
"When did he say he was coming back?"  
  
"He told me he would return in a few days and it's been a week Toby. A whole miserable week without him." Tears streamed down her face and Toby put his arms around her.   
  
"Sssh it's ok." He rocked her gently. "You really care about him, don't you?"  
  
Sarah took a deep breath. "I love him Toby..." she whispered against the soft cotton of his shirt.   
  
Toby froze, "You...you love him?" She nodded against him. "Does he know that?"  
  
"No. I haven't had a chance to tell him yet. I just want him to come back so I can tell him."  
  
Toby pulled back from her slightly. "Sarah, maybe you shouldn't tell him."  
  
"What? Why not?"  
  
Toby looked her in the eyes. "I don't trust him Sarah. There is something about him that rubs me the wrong way. Maybe you should just forget about him. Just move on with your life. When he comes back tell him that you and Ary will be fine on your own."  
  
Sarah pulled away from her brother violently. "Toby I can't do that. I've already fallen so far for him and Ary adores him. I couldn't send him away."  
  
Toby took his sister's hand into his own. "What if he doesn't come back Sarah?"  
  
"He will, he promised me that he would."  
  
"But what if he doesn't?"  
  
Sarah turned her face from him. "Don't say such things Toby."  
  
Toby moved so that he could see her face. "Sarah have you even thought about that? Or are you so in love with him that you think he will do everything that he says he will. Hell I love Cheryl but there are times when I say things that really hurt her and she does the same thing to me. It happens. And as much as we love each other we can't always keep every promise made. He's weird Sarah, with his strange clothes and his 80's harido, and he wears make up around his eyes for god sakes! Hell I don't even know if he's human. Even if he did come back what would happen? Would you fall in love and live happily ever after like the fairy tales we tell Ary?"  
  
"No I don't expect that." She said softly.   
  
"Sarah he's not even from our world, our society. He's a Goblin King from some messed up world out of a science fiction novel. Do you honestly believe that he's just going to throw away his kingdom and abandon it for you?" Sarah pulled further away, a shuddering breath escaping her lips. " I'm not trying to be mean Sarah, but realistic. I love you and I want you to see the big picture."  
  
"I see it Toby, ok I see it. But I love him. Seeing the big picture doesn't make my feelings go away. I love him, even though there are so many unknowns and even though he is from a different world. I can't change that. I know he's the Goblin King. I know he can be cruel and arrogant but he hasn't been that way with me and Ary. He's changed and he loves me Toby. I've seen it in his eyes and I know he cares about Ary. What if I did tell him to leave? Ary would miss him terribly."   
  
"She's a child. Children can adapt to things better then we can."  
  
"My mother left me when I was a child Toby and that scarred me for life. I changed after she left me. I was bitter and selfish and spoiled. I will not let my daughter believe that Jareth just left us. And I sure as hell won't tell her that I made him go away."  
  
"Ary's finally asleep." Cheryl called as she walked down the stairs. "Everything all right down here?" She asked seeing Sarah's tear stained face and Toby's angry expression.  
  
"Yeah. Things are fine Cher. It's getting late, sis. Thank you so much for dinner and the money and please thank Ary again for my card." He stood and whispering added. "Sarah I love you, and I just want what's best for you. Please don't let yourself get hurt."  
  
Sarah stood and hugged her brother tightly. "I love you too Tobe." Their prior conversation was nearly forgotten. She knew he was protective and she believed that Toby would never be satisfied with any man who entered her life, least of all the Goblin King.   
  
Sarah bid her brother and girlfriend goodnight and went to check on her daughter. She opened the door quietly and slowly and was surprised to see that Lancelot was on the floor. She reached for her old bear, who had also been Toby's favorite toy at one time and now was her daughters. She went to put the bear under the covers with Ary when she saw something that made her take a double look. Nestled in Aryanna's small hand was a crystal. The same crystal that Jareth had given her weeks ago to bring into school for show and tell.   
  
Ary loved it and it had been a success at school. But Sarah had not seen the crystal again and had assumed that it was like a forgotten toy. Ary went through stages where one toy was a favorite over another. It appeared that the crystal still meant something to her.   
  
Sarah reached for it, with the intention of putting it on Ary's night stand so it wouldn't get broken and so Ary wouldn't roll on it in her sleep but something stopped her. There were images moving around in the crystal. Almost as if there were little people trapped in the crystal sphere. Sarah leaned closer, focusing her eyes on the images. She suddenly realized that these were her daughter's dreams that swirled within the glass ball. She reached for the sphere blindly, not wanting to know what her daughter dreamed of. Dreams were private after all. But as she reached for the crystal she saw something that made her gasp and pull away from the bed.   
  
There within the sphere was an image of herself and Jareth getting married and Aryanna was the flower girl.... 


	16. A Welcome Surprise....

AN: hello my faithful readers. Thank you all so very much for your wonderful comments. I do love reading them. Here is the next chapter which I believe you will enjoy : ) Please keep those reviews coming. CrystalMagic: Thanks for the cookie pie! It was yummy!  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own anything in the Labyrinth realm. Everything else is mine..all mine!!!  
  
A welcome surprise...  
  
  
Sarah rushed blindly from her daughter's room rushing down the stairs into the living room, slamming into something solid. She didn't go sprawling backwards as she expected but was pulled forward by two strong hands. She let out a small yelp.   
  
" Easy Sarah, it's me."  
  
She gasped looking up into a pair of mismatched eyes on a pale face framed by long blond hair. Jareth grinned back at her, expecting her to embrace him. He was shocked when she slapped him hard across the face and backed away from him looking horrified.   
  
"What did you go and hit me for?" He asked reaching for his cheek which stung from her blow.  
  
"You bastard! Where have you been?" Her voice was cold and so angry. He had not seen her angry while he had stayed with her so this was a shock to him.   
  
"I have been healing." He told her reaching for the sleeve of his shirt. He pushed it upwards and exposed his pale arm, completely healed. He pulled his sleeve back down and advanced toward her but she only backed further away. He stopped his advance looking completely confused. This was not what he expected when he returned. "Sarah..."  
  
"Don't Sarah me!" She cried out at him. "You....you liar! You said that you would be back in a few days. It's been a week Jareth!"  
  
"I realize that Sarah." He said calmly. "I didn't think that I would need so long to recover but Megmora would not let me leave until I was fully healed."  
  
"Megmora??" Her voice was bitter and still so angry.  
  
"My healer." He told her softly. What the hell had brought this on?   
  
"You didn't even contact me!" Her eyes flashed hurt and raw anger.  
  
"I couldn't contact you Sarah. Had I tried I would have had to start the healing process all over again. I could not use ANY magic until I was completely healed. It took longer then anticipated."   
  
"Have you any idea how terrible this week has been and how it dragged by without you here?" There were tears in her eyes. She was beginning to break down. Her angry mask was falling away.  
  
Jareth stepped toward her quickly, grabbing her hands and pulling them into his gloved ones. She tried to pull away but he wouldn't let her go. When she stopped struggling he leaned towards her, his voice a mere whisper. "I know exactly how agonizing it was, because I felt it as well."  
  
"How could you have?"  
  
Jareth blinked, a small amount of anger in his voice. "Sarah think about it, I spent a week away from you and Aryanna. Do you not believe that I felt that the time dragged by as well? And that my week was equally as awful as your own without you near me?" He leaned closer to her. He could feel her warm breath on his face. His voice was a whisper. "It was absolute agony not to be able see your beautiful face every morning....to see your smile." His grip on her hands lessened. The look on her face suddenly told him where her anger had come from...She was trying to hide her fear from him.   
  
He sighed deeply. "You thought I wasn't coming back."   
  
She exploded pulling back from him. "What did you want me to think when the days kept passing by and you didn't show up?!"  
  
Jareth sighed again. "Oh Sarah....I told you I would return to you..."  
  
"You told me you would return in a few days, not a week! How was I to know that your healing would take longer? The last man I loved left me alone and pregnant with his child. He never came back. Who was to say the next man I loved wouldn't leave me too?"  
  
Jareth shook his head. "Sarah I would never leave you unless you wished it of me and..." Suddenly her words settled into his mind. "Did you just...Did I just hear...?" His breath caught in his throat. Had she just said that she...?  
  
She stepped forward, her hand moving to touch his face softly. The anger that once burned in her eyes was long gone. She reached for his hair, brushing the stray strands that fell into his eyes back. Her eyes watched her own actions and then they locked with his eyes. He looked so vulnerable. She was afraid if she wasn't careful, her very words could cripple him.   
  
"Yes Jareth....I love you.." Her voice was soft and calm.   
  
The next few moments were of complete silence and Sarah panicked inside. She had just laid her heart and soul on the line and he had no reaction? A shuddering breath escaped the Goblin King's mouth along with a whimper. She had just...she really did...Was he dreaming? "Sarah...." Her name was another whimper that escaped him.  
  
His breathing was unsteady and so was his balance. He rocked uneasily on his feet. His knees buckled and he fell to the floor with a crash, rattling everything in the room. Sarah stood watching him for a moment. His reaction had startled her. The Goblin King was on his hands and knees at her feet and he was trembling. Did her words have that much of an effect on him? Did he love her that much?  
  
Finally she knelt in front of him on the floor and opened her arms to him. He fell forward toward her, burying his face into her hair and wrapping his arms around her. "My sweet Sarah." He whispered into her hair.   
  
She gripped him tightly to her, tears stinging her eyes. "I missed you so much Jareth. I didn't think you would ever come back... "  
  
He raised his head, holding her face in his hands. He kissed her forehead, her brow and then the tip of her nose. "I would never leave you Sarah...I love you."   
  
Those 3 little words had more power in them then any weapon, modern or ancient. Had more power then technology, science or sorcery.  
  
She looked into his eyes and saw such fierce love in them she nearly began to sob. How long had he been harboring such deep feelings for her? Had he loved her like this when she was merely a child? Or had this love grown from his time with her as an adult? She didn't know nor did she care. He loved her and that was all that mattered to her.  
  
She leaned forward reaching eagerly for his lips and he gave into her, melting against her. Her hands buried themselves in his soft hair as she pulled him closer to her. He responded to her, placing open mouthed kisses on her lips. He was trembling, his hands shaking as he slid them down her sides to settle on her waist. The world was a blur around him. His love for her was overwhelming him. He was dizzy and he had to draw back from her, afraid he would hurt her with his bruising kisses and his long denied passion. He kissed her forehead and pulled her to him, embracing her within his arms and the folds of his dark cape.   
  
His trembling subsided and he just held her, never wanting to let go. He stroked her hair and they sat in silence, reveling in the presence of each other. Suddenly something crossed his mind.   
  
"Sarah, what are we going to tell Ary?"  
  
Sarah sat up and faced him. Her eyes searched him for a moment still full of her love for him. "I don't want to tell her just yet." She told him softly.   
  
"Why not?" He sounded offended.   
  
"Because neither of us can be sure that this will even work. God knows that I want it to work Jareth." She reached for his face, tracing his cheek and his jaw. " But I will not bring my daughter into this until I am certain that it can. Ary loves you Jareth...like a father. I don't want her to be hopeful and then if things don't work out between us, she would be devastated." Her thoughts trailed to the crystal ball and Aryanna's dreams that swirled within it. She wouldn't tell Jareth what her daughter wished for just yet. She had to be certain they could make it together. She needed to be certain herself so that she too would not end up devastated.  
  
"We can make this work Sarah..." He told her reaching for her face. The confidence in his voice mirrored the confidence and determination in his eyes.   
  
"We can try to make it work, but we can't be certain. What will the future hold for us Jareth?"  
  
"I want my future to hold you and Ary...I want you both in my life forever..." He inched closer to her. "I want to awaken every morning and the first thing I will see is your beautiful face. I want the last thing to see before sleep takes me for the night to be your face..."  
  
"I want the same type of things...but we can't be certain that we'll have them."  
  
"Where is all this doubt coming from?" He kissed her softly "Have faith in us."  
  
"I have faith in us, it's the details that worry me. Where will we live Jareth? The Labyrinth, here? What-"  
  
"Ssshhh. Stop all this. Let us live in the moment and talk things out later."  
  
She knew that he was right and she collapsed against him, thankful for his return, his embrace and his love. She wanted this to work. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, to marry him and for him to be the father her little girl never had. But there were still many unknowns. She pushed the feelings of doubt, of reality out of her mind and let her love for him consume her.   
  
"I want to court you Sarah...." He told her after a few silent moments.  
  
She pulled back slightly. "You want to court me?"  
  
"Yes.." he said breathlessly. "I want to take things slowly so that we make no mistakes. I've waited 20 years for this chance and I don't want to ruin it." She looked up at him. He was completely serious. He brushed a stray hair from her eyes. "Will you allow me to court you?"  
  
She kissed him gently. "Yes..." She looked up at him and to her horror she saw that a red mark had formed where she had hit him. She reached up, tracing the outline with her fingers. "I'm sorry I hit you, I was so angry and you startled me..."  
  
He silenced her with a soft kiss. "It's all right. I forgive you. Just don't do it again." She shook her head. "I'm glad I caught you alone. I was afraid that Ary would be up or that your brother would still be here."  
  
She snuggled close to him. "We missed you at dinner. Although it was chicken so you probably would not have cared for it. Ary and I have missed you every night. Nothing has been the same since you left. Ary's been so strong about it all. I know that she misses you terribly yet she hasn't complained once."  
  
He kissed her lightly again. "I will surprise her in the morning when she awakens."  
  
"Like you surprised me?"  
  
"You walked into me or ran into me. What was wrong?"  
  
"Nothing.."  
  
"It didn't look like nothing. You looked startled."  
  
She dodged the comment and touched his skin, letting her fingers run down his neck to his collarbone. He closed his eyes as she gently ran her fingers down the smooth skin of his chest. He pulled her hand away gently placing a few soft kisses on her palm.   
  
"Do you have to work tomorrow?" his voice was throaty.  
  
'It's Monday of course I do. I need to have a good day tomorrow. I need a good week. I messed up so much this past week. I'm lucky I didn't get fired."  
  
"Because of me?"  
  
"No, it was my own fault for not paying attention and for being foolish enough to worry about you returning. It's just...the days started piling up and when you didn't show up...I panicked. Toby knew, he tried to calm me down."  
  
"What did your brother have to say about my absence?"  
  
Sarah paused for a moment, unsure how to proceed. "Jareth he didn't...He..."  
  
Jareth sighed. "He wanted you to forget me didn't he?"  
  
She nodded shamefully. "I told him that I couldn't. I love you too much to just forget you like that. And I know Ary would not be able to forget you either."  
  
"I should have expected him to try and turn you away from me."  
  
"What's going on between you two?" She leaned against his shoulder and reached up twirling his long blonde hair on her fingers.   
  
"I have a feeling that he dislikes me."  
  
"What did he say to you at Eddy's last weekend when we went to play pinball?"  
  
"Nothing...important."  
  
"Don't lie to me Jareth. You've never lied to me before, don't start doing it now. What did he say?"  
  
"The little....He threatened me. Told me that if I hurt you or your daughter he would hurt me. As if he could do such a thing. He obviously does not know that if you and Ary hurt that I hurt as well."  
  
Sarah sighed and played with the leather tie of the necklace that dangled over his chest. "I don't think Toby understands our relationship. He knows that we met a long time ago and that you were the villain then. I honestly believe that he thinks that you are still the villain. Just as I at first did not believe that you had changed, Toby doesn't believe it. And furthermore Toby is incredibly protective of me. He was there for me when Adam left. He saw what it did to me. You are the first man that I've shown a serious interest in, in 8 years. He's trying to protect me from getting hurt again."  
  
"He sees me as you and Ary see me and he doesn't approve of me. I see it in his eyes. He does not believe that I am worthy."  
  
"Toby doesn't believe that anyone is worthy. So don't take it personal. No one will ever be exactly what he wants for me. We'll both have to give Toby time to warm up to you, just as we both need time to try and make this all work out."  
  
He stroked her hair gently. "We will succeed Sarah. I will not let us fail. I failed you once 20 years ago and I suffered terribly because of it. I will not fail again." She opened her mouth to speak and he silenced her with a finger to her lips. "It's late and you should sleep. You look like you haven't slept in several nights and I fear I have been the cause."  
  
"You can remedy the situation by staying with me tonight." She smiled innocently.  
  
He hated to dash the hope in her voice. "As wonderful as that sounds it is very unwise. It's too early for that Sarah. I want to get to know as much as I can about you before anything serious happens between us. I do not wish for regrets this time around."  
  
"You have regrets about last time?"  
  
'Of course I do. I regret that I didn't try harder to keep you in my life." He kissed her forehead. "Now no more talking. Time for bed." She smiled at his already protective nature and they walked up the stairs together. He walked her to her bedroom door.   
  
'Good night, my Sarah. Sleep well."  
  
She stood on her tip toes and kissed him softly. "Now that I know you're back...I will. G'night." She turned from him slowly and before she closed the door said. "I love you." She watched him grin like a shy teenager and then closed the door. Jareth stood looking at the closed door with a grin he couldn't wipe off his face. Finally he walked into his own room. Sleep would come easy for him tonight as well and he no longer would feel guilty about dreaming of Sarah...His Sarah... 


	17. A 'freak' of nature...

I was being threatened to write more quickly or else so I got to work. I don't want any angry readers or any bumps and bruises! I'm so glad that everyone enjoyed the last chapter! It was fun to write it. Enjoy!  
  
  
A Freak of nature...  
  
  
Sarah sipped at her coffee and turned to see Aryanna walk into the kitchen rubbing her eyes.   
  
"Good morning Sweetie. Sleep well?"  
  
Ary yawned. "Very well mommy. I dreamt that...." She yawned again.  
  
"What love?"  
  
"That...that..you know who came back."  
  
Sarah smiled. "You mean Jareth?"  
  
Aryanna nodded still rubbing her eyes.   
  
"Well it appears that your dream came true." Came an accented masculine voice.  
  
Ary was wide awake now, not a trace of sleep in her eyes. Standing beside the far wall of the kitchen, dressed elegantly in a white poet's shirt, black vest and long flowing black cape, black pants and boots, was the Goblin King.  
  
Ary looked up at her mother who smiled sweetly as she took another sip of her coffee. "Am I still dreaming mommy? Is he really back?" Sarah nodded.  
  
Jareth walked towards the little girl, the heels of his boots clicking on the linoleum of the kitchen floor. He knelt in front of her on one knee. "Good morning Aryanna."  
  
Aryanna's eyes widened and then a smile spread across her face. She lunged at him, throwing her arms around his neck and he scooped her up into his arms twirling her around the kitchen.   
  
"You came back!"  
  
"Of course I did."  
  
"Mommy missed you." Ary whispered softly.  
  
Jareth glanced at Sarah and flashed her a smile before gazing at the 8 year old in his arms. "Did she?" he asked raising one brow. "And how about her daughter?"  
  
"I missed you too!" She leaned closer to Jareth and whispered in his ear. "Mommy didn't do the spelling tests like you do, but she tried hard." Jareth let out a small chuckle.   
  
"We'll just have to teacher her how it's done, won't we?" He whispered in her ear. Jareth gazed at Sarah to see her smiling sweetly at him.   
  
She realized that he would make a wonderful father. Maybe that was why he stole children. Perhaps he liked them but didn't have any of his own.   
  
Jareth placed the little girl back on her feet. "All right time for breakfast. You have to be ready for the bus in 15 minutes. You overslept."  
  
She rushed to the cabinets grabbing her favorite bowl and a spoon from a drawer. Jareth was standing in front of the cabinets with one hand on his hip, the other was tapping his lips. "Let me guess. Ary would like Fruit Loops for breakfast."  
  
"Yeah!" She erupted in a fit of giggles. Jareth grinned and took the box out of the cabinet. The phone rang as he was pouring the cereal and some milk into Ary's bowl.   
  
Sarah set her coffee mug on the tile counter and then walked to the phone. "Hello?"  
  
"Hi Sarah. *  
  
Good morning Toby."  
  
* "I just wanted to call and make sure that you were all right. And I wanted to say that I'm sorry. There were a few things I should not have said last night." *  
  
"It's all right Toby. I forgive you."  
  
* "You sound like you're in a good mood this morning. What brought that on?" *  
  
"I'll give you one guess."  
  
Toby didn't need to guess when he heard Jareth and Aryanna laughing in the background. * "Jareth showed up." *  
  
"yep." Sarah glanced at Jareth giving him a shy smile. He smiled in return and then focused his attention on Aryanna. "He showed up not long after you and Cheryl left."  
  
* " Sarah just do me a favor and be careful ok. I know you....I know you love him. Just don't set yourself up for more heartache ok?" *  
  
"I can handle it Tobe. Have some faith in me."  
  
* "I have faith in you. It's him that I don't trust. " *  
  
"Lighten up will you? I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."  
  
* "yeah I know. I love you. Tell Ary I love her too." *  
  
"I will. I love you too. Bye."  
  
  
"Was that Uncle Toby?"  
  
Sarah smiled. "Yes sweetie. He says he loves you. You'd better hurry up and finish that cereal. The bus will be here in 10 minutes and you haven't dressed or brushed your teeth yet."  
  
"Did you make my lunch mommy?"  
  
"Sure did. It's in your backpack."  
  
Ary nodded and finished her cereal and then rushed up stairs to dress. Sarah walked her to the bus 5 minutes later while Jareth stood on the porch leaning against one of the poles. Sarah ignored Linda who stood outside with her daughter Melanie on her own driveway. She could feel Linda's stare on her but she pretended she didn't notice and kept her attention on her bubbly daughter.  
  
After Ary had gotten on the bus Linda glanced over at the porch and seeing Jareth her eyes widened. She pointed at him crying out. 'Freak!!!" Jareth's brows rose and he shot the woman an annoyed glance. What the hell was her problem?  
  
As Sarah walked back to the house she started to laugh.   
  
"Freak!!" Linda cried out again. She was on the edge of the property line still pointing an accusing finger at Jareth.  
  
Sarah jogged to the porch and laughed as she pushed Jareth into the house through the door. He was clearly annoyed.  
  
"What was that all about? Why was she insulting me? I did nothing to her. I did nothing but stand on the porch."  
  
Sarah reached up kissing him quickly on the lips. "Linda is convinced that I am allowing a freak to stay in my house."  
  
"Pardon me?"  
  
"A freak, you know...someone who is different."  
  
"I am aware of what the word means. Although from what I understand it is a word that is often used as an insult."  
  
Sarah let out a sigh. "She saw you crash land in the backyard and transform the night you were hurt"  
  
One of Jareth's brows rose. "That happened late at night. Doesn't that woman sleep?"  
  
"Apparently not, because she saw everything. Since most people can't transform from owls to men she thinks that you are a freak. Good thing she doesn't know what you really look like."  
  
The annoyance faded from his eyes and was replaced by such seriousness. "Do you consider me a freak?.....Because I am not like others?" His voice was soft and meek.   
  
She reached up gazing into his eyes with a smile. "No, I don't think that you are a freak. You're unique." She told him her eyes searching over his wild blond hair, his pale skin, his eye brows that tilted up at an odd angle, the makeup surrounding his eyes that to her didn't look like makeup, but a part of who he really was. Finally her eyes fell upon his mismatched eyes and locked on the blue and hazel orbs.. "But you're not a freak...not to me."  
  
Jareth smiled down at her and then a smirk formed. "We shall have to teach that awful woman a lesson. No one insults the Goblin King and gets away with it."  
  
Sarah grinned. "We might be able to have some fun with her now that you've got your strength and your magic back."  
  
He grinned devilishly. He would enjoy nothing more then to toy with that annoying woman. "But why should I waste my strength and magic on her?" He lowered his lips to her and gave her a crushing kiss. He rested his forehead against hers and whispered, "When I would willingly use them to seduce you..." His mouth returned to hers. She could feel her knees buckling. There was such power, such passion behind every one of his kisses. He put his arm around her back to steady her and continued to kiss her. His lips left her mouth and trailed soft kisses down her neck.   
  
"Jareth ...stop..." She squirmed but he didn't release her.  
  
He chuckled against her neck, his voice vibrating on her skin. "You'll have to try harder then that to convince me." He teased.   
  
'Jareth..." She was trembling in his arms. "I..I..I have to go to...work."  
  
He pulled back from her and she straightened herself.   
  
"As much as I would like to stay here with you I can't."  
  
'I know. I'm sorry. That wasn't very gentlemanly of me to do that to you before you had to leave for work. I only meant to tease." He watched her pull her hair back into a ponytail to look more presentable.   
  
"We'll have time for this later. You can seduce me all you want this weekend when Ary goes to stay with my brother." Oh God had she just said that aloud? She tried to act as she hadn't said it and appeared calm on the outside. But inside she was shaking. As much as she wanted him to seduce her, she was frightened. The last time she had given into her physical side she had ended up pregnant and the man she loved had left her.  
  
"As wonderful as that sounds I do not wish to rush into anything. We haven't even gone out on our first date."  
  
Relief filled her for a brief moment followed by confusion. "Huh?"  
  
He smiled innocently at her. "Our first date. In your society it is custom for those courting to go on a first date. To get to know each other."  
  
"Yeah but we're past that Jareth. Most people who have are going out on a first date don't live in the same house and don't see each other everyday. We've already broken the rules."  
  
"So we have bent the rules slightly. I still wish to experience a first date." He kissed her hair. "With you."  
  
"Jareth.." God, she was feeling like a nervous teenager who had never gone on a date before. She decided to take a logical approach. "It isn't like you can just take me out to dinner and a movie anyway."  
  
He played with her hair. "Who says I can't take you out?"  
  
She raised a brow at him. Was he serious? Should she remind him that he didn't own a car, didn't have any money?  
  
He saw her expression. "You doubt me? I may not be from your world Sarah, but I have my own way to go about this."  
  
'Oh this is going to be good."   
  
"It will be. This weekend the courting will begin." He gazed at her longingly and she felt her cheeks warm with a blush.  
  
"So what's this week then? Nothing?"  
  
"No, but it would be difficult to get you alone with your daughter in the house. So I'll wait until this weekend."  
  
"Yes. That would be difficult. Especially because she loves to spend time with you."  
  
"What's the matter? Jealous?" He smirked.   
  
"Hardly, although I wouldn't mind more time to spend alone with you. We only have a few hours after Ary goes to sleep to be together."  
  
"And we should cherish what little time we have. A few hours each night is better then nothing at all." She nodded. He bent his head down and placed a kiss on her neck. "We could use those hours to get to know each other.."  
  
She dropped her head back so he would have easy access to the rest of her neck. He placed a few soft kisses on her skin and she felt herself giving into him, despite her fear, despite her past. "Getting to know each other ..." She sighed deeply and looked into his eyes longingly. "I like the sound of that."  
  
He pulled back. He looked startled. "Sarah I didn't mean like that. I told you I wished to proceed slowly and I meant it. There will be a time and place for...more...but not now."  
  
She smiled sweetly. God she loved him. He seemed to understand her and what she needed before she did sometimes. He was unlike anyone she had ever met.   
  
"I know..." She sighed. "I should go. I don't want to be late for work." He nodded and she grabbed her coat from the closet putting it on.   
  
He stepped closer to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Have a good day Sarah."  
  
"I'll try." She planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "See you tonight." He nodded and watched her disappear through the door into the garage. 


	18. The Trash Queen meets the Goblin King...

AN: Ah Another day, another chapter. I don't have much to say except, thank you all for the reviews. You are all so wonderful! I hope you enjoy this chapter.   
  
Disclaimers: I don't own the Sarah and Jareth or the Labyrinth or Toby. All other characters and places are my creation.   
  
  
The Trash Queen meets the Goblin King  
  
  
Everything returned to normal when Jareth re-entered Sarah and Aryanna's lives. Sarah began to receive a little note on her desk each day from Jareth, telling her he loved her and always telling her something to make her smile. Whether that be that she was beautiful or a personal joke between them. Ary and Jareth fell back into the habit of making and having dinner ready for Sarah when she came home from work. Jareth helped Ary study for her spelling tests and he and Sarah took turns tucking her into bed and telling her a bed time story. After Ary had gone to sleep Sarah and Jareth used the time to sit and relax. Sometimes they would snuggle on the couch together watching a movie or they would sit at the kitchen table over coffee and tea talking. One thing was certain since Jareth had returned, they were all much happier.   
  
The weekend couldn't come fast enough for Sarah. She was dying to know what Jareth had planned for their first date. He had not said much about it during the week although she had been dying to ask. All he had told her was that he had a day planned for them on Saturday and that he was taking her out at night. Sarah felt like a teenager all over again going on a first date. She had no idea what to expect from Jareth. He always found a way to surprise her. She was sure that she would not be disappointed.   
  
She noticed that he seemed to be getting antsy as the days passed. It appeared that they both could not wait until it was Saturday.   
  
Friday seemed to be the longest day in existence for them both. Work dragged by for Sarah even though she had 3 reports to type up and errands to run for Jake. He had been demanding this week at work with the main branch of the company expected to visit the following week and he wanted everything perfect. But he didn't only make more work for his employees. He also took a large chunk of work. Sarah respected that.   
  
Sarah was hoping that dinner would be special with just her and Jareth being home. Toby had picked up Ary from school and he had called Sarah to make sure that she was going to be ok being alone with Jareth in the house. He was such a worry wart, but Sarah loved him for it. Dinner was casual, and normal, just like if Ary had been there with them. Except that Jareth was exceptionally quiet. Sarah didn't ask him what was wrong, for she was sure she might upset him even more. She thought that he looked nervous and she wondered if it was because he was afraid what he had planned the following day would not be up to her expectations. She gave him a reassuring kiss before they bid each other good night.   
  
Neither of them slept very well...  
  
Jareth was up early the next morning. He started doing the chores for Sarah. Putting the previous night's dishes away, hanging the laundry and then he remembered the trash. He emptied the barrels around the house, while Sarah was sleeping and he dragged two large trash bags outside along with the recyclable bin. He heard some clatter next door and saw that Linda was preparing to bring out her trash as well. She had not seen him yet and he had a wicked idea.   
  
Linda started dragging her trash bags to the end of her driveway as well as her recyclable bin. She started tying up her trash bags with a twist tie. She had just reached the last bag when a tin can from her recyclable bin somehow ended up on her lawn. She bent over to pick it up and put it back when a crushed milk jug also landed on the lawn. She stopped staring for a moment at the two items with confusion. How the hell had they just upped and out of the bin on their own? Now that didn't make sense. She decided to ignore the two items on her lawn and went back to the task of tying up the last trash bag.   
  
She was nearly finished when a plastic container lifted out of the bin and hung in mid air. She stopped and watched it, expecting it to fall onto the lawn with the other things. Did it fall onto the lawn? No it came at her and assaulted her, whacking her in the arm. She lost her balance but didn't fall.   
  
"What the hell is going on around here?" She heard a strange sound that sounded like plastic ripping. She turned and watched in horror as her garbage bags began to swell and then shrink as if they were breathing. Then one by one they erupted like a volcano, spewing trash all over her front yard.   
  
"Is this someone's idea of a practical joke??" she cried out. She nearly wanted to cry when she saw her beautiful green lawn littered with trash. She heard a soft male chuckle and she spun around to face a man. He was leaning causally against her mailbox, dressed completely in black with a long flowing cape and a spiky mane of blond hair that fell in different lengths around his pale face.   
  
"YOU!!!!" Linda cried out. She rushed at him and slipped on a banana peel, falling at his feet.   
  
"As well you should bow before the King." He told her, putting his hands on his slender hips.   
  
"This is your doing...you... you!!!!" she cried out. She clenched the grass of her lawn into her hands tightly.   
  
"Allow me to introduce myself." He gave her a mock bow. "I am the Goblin King, ruler of the Underground and the Castle beyond the Goblin City." Linda opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she saw a plastic empty butter container float above her head. It hung in mid air for a moment and then the Goblin King took it into his leather encased hands. He then took the container and placed it on Linda's head.   
  
"And you... I know very well who you are. You are the Trash Queen." He smirked.   
  
Linda jumped to her feet quickly, which wasn't an easy task for her as she was overweight. "How dare you come here and use your voo doo magic on me!! How dare you litter my front yard with trash!!"  
  
Jareth looked amused for a moment and then he tugged at the gloves on his hands. "You got what you deserved." He told her. He then became serious. "You should not have messed with the Goblin King." he spit. "He doesn't enjoy being insulted by a silly mortal woman who needs to stop eating so much junk food." He gestured at all the empty candy and chip wrappers and then tiled his head at her, watching her mouth open into an O. She snapped it shut, her face turning bright red. "Yes." He nodded. "Trash Queen is a very appropriate title."  
  
Linda's face was bright red and she suddenly screamed, very loud. "How dare you!! Did your little girlfriend put you up to this because she's still pissed at me??"  
  
"My 'girlfriend' had nothing to do with this."  
  
"I knew it! I knew she was seeing you! I knew it! I should have known that she would have started seeing a freak! No normal man would ever date her. She's weird and that's why her boyfriend left her. She was the one who got what she deserved. Left pregnant and alone. That's what you get for playing horizontal poker before you get married! She was brought up better then that and she got exactly what she deserved. The little whore!"  
  
Anger raged through the Goblin King. He reached out grabbing Linda by the collar of her shirt. "If I hear you say anything derogetory, I take that back. If I hear you say ANYTHING about Sarah again, some trash on your front yard will be the least of your troubles." Linda trembled beneath his intense gaze. "Do you understand me?" Linda nodded and he released her. She went sprawling backwards landing on the lawn, her 'crown' still in place.   
  
The squeal of brakes could be heard in the distance. The Goblin King cocked his head to the side and gave her a cocky grin. "You have better hurry and clean this if you want them to take the trash away."  
  
Linda growled as she turned her head to look down the street. The garbage truck was starting to collect trash at the end of the street. She spun angrily back to look at the Goblin King. But he wasn't there. She let out a horrible, shrill scream.   
  
  
Jareth chuckled as he rematerialized in the living room. His laughing faded quickly however when he heard sobbing. He followed the sound to find Sarah sobbing against a chair in the den at the end of the hall. He felt his heart constrict. She was awake and she had no doubt heard what Linda said about her.   
  
"Sarah..." he whispered softly. She refused to look at him and instead turned away burying her face into the cushions of the chair. "Sarah." He called again.   
  
"Just go away.." she whispered softly. He approached her, the floor creaking as he neared. "Please just go away!" she cried at him.   
  
He wasn't about to give up that easily. "Sarah are you going to let an annoying witch like her bother you?"  
  
Sarah began to sob more and Jareth was at her side an instant later. He pried her off the chair and she fell into his arms. He held her tightly to him. "Please Sarah. Please don't let her get to you. That's what she wants, don't you see that? You must not let her win." She continued to sob.   
  
"Sarah, it's the past. Let it go."  
  
'I can't!" she cried wrenching herself from his grasp. She ignored the look of hurt that flashed across his handsome face as she shoved him away from her. "She told everyone what happened! Everyone! Do you have any idea how hard it was to live with a life growing inside of me that other people constantly whispered about? Every time I went to the store or out into town people were whispering how I had a child growing with in me and I wasn't married."  
  
"Sarah, it happens. This is a modern era."  
  
"yeah it does happen. But not in this town. This place is small and everyone always does things the correct way or they are shunned. I was brought up the right way. No love making until you get married, certainly no kids until you get married. My dad drilled that into me. Do you have any idea how horrible it was to face my father at first?! He never looked at me the same way again! He forgave me when Ary was born but he never looked at me the same..." She began to sob again and Jareth reached for her, but she pulled away.   
  
"And Karen..." she sobbed. "She didn't like me as it was, and this was perfect for her to use to turn my father against me. Toby was the only one who was there for me. He was the one who helped me face each and everyday. I hated the baby Adam left me with at first, and it took me a year to realize that she was the greatest mistake I ever made."  
  
"Then why are you letting this bother you? You love your daughter. She's beautiful, smart. She is everything I would assume one would hope for in a child. So she was a....miscalculation. Do you love her any less for that?"  
  
"Of course not!" she cried out. "It's myself that I don't love. It's myself that I can't forgive!"  
  
"Sarah...you're being too harsh on yourself." This was not how he wanted to spend his day with her.   
  
"Too harsh on myself? Jareth, you weren't there when I had to confess to my dad that I was pregnant. You didn't see the look on his face that is forever burned in my mind. And look what I did to you! You loved me and I hurt you."  
  
"Sarah, don't you dare bring me into this. It was expected that you would win and leave me. I knew that you had a strong will. I knew you would chose to return with your brother. It was my own foolish naivete that condemned me to suffer. It was not you."  
  
"It was me! I really am cruel. Look what I did to my father and to you! How can you love me?" She was sobbing uncontrollably.   
  
"Sarah, that's enough!" he told her angrily. He pulled her to him and instantly she stopped sobbing. He had never been rough with her before and for an instant he frightened her. He saw the look in her eyes and he lessened his hold on her, but didn't release her. "Don't you dare start doubting yourself or what I feel for you. Don't you dare let that horrible woman get to you. I love you for everything that you are. I accept the good and the bad about you willingly. No one is perfect. Not you, not me, not your father, not Toby and certainly not the horrible woman next door." He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "You are an incredible woman, who still possesses that strong will, despite what you may think." He locked his eyes with her.   
  
"Sarah I am not perfect either. I have things that I am not proud of from the days of my youth. But I moved on and I moved on because of you." She gave him a confused stare. "Sarah because of you, I learned how to love. I left behind some of the arrogance, the cruelty that I had been hiding behind. You saved me from destroying myself. If I had not met you, my ways would have destroyed me." He sighed deeply as she rested her head against him.   
  
"This is not how I expected today to go." He sighed. He gently ran his fingers over her back, along the soft silk of the nightgown she wore. Only at that moment did he notice she was dressed in it.   
  
He felt her clutch the fabric of his shirt within her fists and lean closer to him. "I'm sorry." She whispered.   
  
"You've repressed the past too long Sarah."  
  
"I know...I thought that I had rid myself of it...but...all that crying I did. It meant nothing."  
  
"And now" He inquired.   
  
She placed a kiss on the soft skin of his chest. "Now I feel better that I finally let someone hold me and tell me that things were ok. I think that's what I needed..."   
  
He smiled and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "May I still take you out? May I bring you out on our first date?" She nodded against him. "Good. Let me take your mind off of the past. We have the future to work towards."   
  
She nodded pulling away from him. "What should I wear?" She asked hastily wiping the tears from her eyes.   
  
He smiled at her readiness to leave the past behind her. "Wear something casual for now."  
  
"For now? Does that mean that I have to change later?"  
  
"Very perceptive." He purred. "But no more questions. Get dressed and I will fix you some breakfast." She nodded and turned to leave the den. Jareth stepped in front of her at the last moment and reached for her face, tilting her chin up with his fingers. He placed a soft kiss on her lips and when he pulled back he smiled. "I love you Sarah. Don't ever forget that."   
  
She smiled, her eyes tearing up again. This time because of joy and not grief. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I love you too." She whispered into his soft hair. He smiled as he held her. Finally she released him and made her way up stairs. Jareth sighed and cast a dark glance out the window. The Trash Queen would meet the Goblin King again...and very soon. 


	19. Sanctuary...

AN: hello everyone. Liked what jareth did to Linda did you? I have to admit that when I was writing the last chapter I started laughing. I could picture the whole thing happening so clearly. Well the first date is finally here. Enjoy this chapter!   
  
Disclaimers: I don't own Sarah, Jareth, Toby or the labyrinth and I don't own the Lyrics at the end of this chapter. Everything Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson Productions, which I merely borrow for fan enjoyment and no profit what so ever. The lyrics at the end belong to the wonderful David Bowie.  
  
  
Sanctuary  
  
Sarah returned a short while later dressed in a blue sweater and blue jeans. It was well into March now and Spring was already in the air. She found Jareth in the kitchen. He had already made her a cup of coffee as well as a blueberry bagel covered with cream cheese. She smiled when she saw him and noticed that he didn't seem as dressed up as he was before. He wore a navy blue shirt that had a slightly higher neckline then his usual shirts, no vest no cape, just his infamous black tights and knee high boots. She ate quickly, hardly able to contain the excitement that now coursed her veins. Where would he take her?   
  
"Are you ready to start our day?" he asked watching her drain the last of her coffee. She nodded and the excited expression reminded him of how Ary often responded to things. He felt the same childlike giddiness racing through him. "All right." He pulled her to her feet and held her in front of him. "Now I want you to close your eyes. And you can not open them until I tell you otherwise." She nodded and closed her eyes, feeling him move closer to her. She felt a warm odd sensation sweep through her. It was several moments later that she felt Jareth step away.   
  
"What do you sense?" He asked her.   
  
She took a deep breath. "It feels slightly cooler here...and the air...it's salty." A moment later a bird call she recognized nearly made her jump out of her skin.   
  
He chuckled at her reaction. "Oh all right. Open your eyes."  
  
She did so and grinned from ear to ear the moment they opened. "You brought me to the ocean!" she cried out. Jareth merely stood with his hands clasped behind him grinning. She rushed at him nearly toppling him over. "Have you any idea how much I love the ocean!?"  
  
He gave her a sly smile. "I had some idea. Especially with all the paintings and pictures of seascapes around your house and all the pictures of you and you brother at the beach."  
  
"I haven't been to the ocean in years. Not since...Ary was born."  
  
"And why not when you live only a few hours from the coast?"  
  
"I haven't had the time. I've been raising Ary and it's not like I have any friends to drive with to the ocean. Oh god, it's so beautiful here. Just like I remember it." She hugged Jareth tightly. "Thank you so much!"  
  
He placed a quick kiss on her lips. "My pleasure."   
  
She grabbed a hold of his hand. "C'mon, let's go look for sea shells by the water!" He laughed and let her pull him down the small hill they had appeared on.   
  
Sarah instantly began to bend over, searching through what the tide had brought in, looking for buried treasure. Jareth watched her and trailed behind her as she excitedly discovered things along the way. He was relieved to know that his first choice for the day had been something worth while for her. The beach was nearly deserted except for one couple with children who were flying kites and walking their dog.   
  
"Have you ever done this before Jareth? Just walk along the beach seeing what the tide has brought in."  
  
"Many times."  
  
She turned to face him, standing up and stopping her exploration in the sand. "Really?"  
  
He nodded and flashed her a devious smile. "Really Sarah. Hard for you to believe that the Goblin King used to enjoy strolls along the beach?"  
  
'I just...you...You don't seem the type."  
  
"I haven't done it in a very long time." He told her as he kicked a quahog shell over with the toe of his boot.   
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Perhaps for the same reasons that you no longer come here. I became busy. I have a kingdom to run after all and I can't just go off to play around at the ocean whenever I see fit."  
  
The sentence made Sarah tense and he noticed it right away. "Did I say something wrong?"  
  
She shook her head and quickly went back to exploring.   
  
"I clearly said something that has bothered or offended you. I beg you to tell me what it is."  
  
"It's nothing Jareth."  
  
He touched her arm and then grabbed a hold of it, pulling her to face him. "Oh and I must be honest with you even when you won't be honest with me? Some how that doesn't seem quite right."  
  
She sighed. "Jareth I really don't want to ruin this wonderful day that you have planned with some of my thoughts on things. As you once told me, let's enjoy the moment and talk about the other stuff later."  
  
He nodded but Sarah knew he was not happy with being left in the dark. They walked along the beach for a few more hours before Jareth announced that he had another surprise for her. He made her close her eyes and they walked up a steep hill. When Sarah opened her eyes she found that he had laid out a picnic lunch for them on the top of a hill that overlooked the ocean. She was sure that his magic was involved somehow but she didn't mention that to him. Besides that the roast beef sandwiches that he had made were delicious.   
  
Sarah laid back on the blanket that was spread out on the grass and gazed up at the sky. She stretched her arms above her head and closed her eyes. She wished she could stay forever on this hill. Far away from the rumors, work, her neighbors. Away from reality. She heard Jareth lay beside her and she felt his hand toying with her hair. He seemed to have an obsession with it because he was always playing with it. She heard him sigh deeply.   
  
"And what is Sarah thinking about..?" She smiled, her eyes still closed and then she opened them gazing at him. He was lying on his side, resting on one elbow. The other arm was draped over her, his hand buried in the thick dark locks of her hair. His hair was golden in the light of the sun.   
  
"Guess." She told him with a sweet smile.   
  
"Hmmm. You're thinking about a dashing Goblin King aren't you?"  
  
She laughed. "Well that might be a small part of what I'm thinking about."  
  
He raised a brow. "Only a small part?"  
  
"Ok, a little more then that. I was just thinking about how wonderful this is, lying here. Forgetting about reality for a little while, lying here with you beside me. This is a nice change. Thank you for bringing me here. I could not have planned a better day if I tried myself."  
  
He smiled and stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "I'm thrilled that you are enjoying yourself, but the day is not over yet. And night has not even fallen."  
  
She rolled over onto her side to face him, with a brillant smile gracing her face. "I can't wait to see what tonight will be like."  
  
He leaned over placing a gentle but passionate kiss on her lips. "Neither can I." She slid over to him, burying her face into his neck and chest. His golden hair cascading down upon her. They laid like that for a long time. The warmth of the sun felt good. It was quiet except for the crashing of the waves rolling onto the shore. Jareth would occasionally comb his fingers through her hair, or run his hands over her arm. Finally he laid his head down on the blanket and he dozed off to sleep. Sarah slept as well, curled against his chest.   
  
They both awakened about an hour before sunset. Jareth used his magic to make the picnic setting disappear and they both walked down the hill toward the water again. They walked side by side in the orange glow of the sun that sank lower and lower in the sky.   
  
"Jareth, have you ever wished for anything? Like what you want the future to be like."  
  
Jareth gazed at her, a smile tugging on his lips. "I wished that I could be with you and that has come true."  
  
She blushed but recovered quickly. "No I mean when you were younger or even now did you have hopes of what the future would be like."  
  
'My hopes for the future remain the same as they were when I was a child."  
  
"What are they?"  
  
He stopped walking and took her hand into his. The sun was beginning to set behind him and the sky was a palette of blue, green, yellow, orange and pink. "I still wish to marry the woman of my dreams. To have children. To live happily ever after." He smiled innocently.  
  
She smiled in return. "Happily ever after eh?"  
  
He nodded. "And what about you Sarah? What do you wish for the future?"  
  
"I want to marry someone who understands me and loves me, maybe have another child. As much as I want the happily ever after, I know I can't possibly have that. Life doesn't allow it. You can't have ups with out downs. Can't have joy with out grief, can't feel pleasure without pain."  
  
Jareth moved in closer toward her, his face hovering inches from her own. "My sweet Sarah...so very wise." He closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. She responded immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck. His hands were in her hair and then on her waist, pulling her to him. Their innocent kisses became much more in a matter of moments. The two lovers were a silhouette of one on the beach as the sun set behind them.   
  
After a short while Jareth broke the kiss and leaned against her. They held each other in the gathering darkness.   
  
"We should return home. We both need to shower before we go out tonight. We smell like the beach. Especially you my dear, who was playing in the sand. Good thing you stopped when you did otherwise you might have started smelling like the Bog of Eternal Stench."  
  
Sarah laughed against him. She felt a warm sensation sweep over here and when Jareth stepped away from her, they were standing in the upstairs hallway of her house.  
  
Jareth placed a kiss on her lips. "Why don't you shower first?"  
  
"All right. What should I wear tonight?"  
  
Jareth smiled. "It's already laid out on your bed. Let me know what you're done and I'll shower and change and then we'll go." She nodded and he stepped away from her. She watched him head down stairs and heard the tv go on a few seconds later. He was turning into a typical man, going to watch tv while the lady showered first. She decided that she would shower quickly and dress and then put her make up on in her own room so that he could use the shower right away.   
  
Shr rushed to her room and gasped when she saw what was lying there on the quilt. Spread out across the bed was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was pale blue and covered with tiny sequins at the top. The top was fitted and the bottom of the dress flared out from the waist. She stood just gaping at it with her mouth open, jaw dropped. Finally she went in search of some underwear and a bra that would be able to work with a dress that was so revealing. She had not even tried it on and she knew it was going to reveal some skin.  
  
She showered quickly. She shouted down to Jareth that she was done with the shower and she rushed to her room clad in a towel. She didn't put the dress on right away but instead slipped on an oversized T-shirt. She set to the task of blow drying her hair and put on her make-up. Then she stepped into the dress. She couldn't believe how gorgeous it was. She twirled around in front of her full length mirror in it, feeling like a princess or a queen. She did her hair and put on some pearl earrings she had. She wore ivory gloves that almost reached her elbows. She could hardly wait to see Jareth and she could hardly wait to see where he was taking her.   
  
She heard a tap on her door a short while later.   
  
"Are you done Sarah? We need to hurry or we'll miss it."  
  
"Miss what?"  
  
"I'd rather show you then tell you."   
  
Sarah swung the door open quickly and there he stood. Dressed in a long midnight blue frock coat that she had dreamt about almost every night when she was 17 years old. She had written about that coat and the outfit he wore many times in her diary. She knew the outfit by heart. The sequined blue frock coat. Beneath it a silver silk shirt with a ruffle collar that hung half way down the front of his chest. A silver belt across his midsection, tight black pants and those shiny black knee high boots. He wore the ivory gloves on his hands and his blond hair was highlighted with blue. The dark triangles at the edge of his eyes were darker, more defined and the light pink makeup that between his brows and the triangle at the corner of his eyes were brighter. The site of him took her breath away as he stood there in her hallway, looking so incredibly out of place in her modern house.   
  
He was smiling sweetly and genuinely at her. He reached for her hand, placing a kiss on the ivory material. "You look beautiful."  
  
She blushed violently, her cheeks reddening instantly after his comment and the intense stare he gave her. She wanted to blurt out that he was gorgeous. The most gorgeous man she had ever seen. But she held back, instead leaning over and placing a kiss upon his cheek. "And you look so incredibly handsome."  
  
He smiled sweetly and gently pulled her to him. "Close your eyes."  
  
"Oh not this again." She groaned.  
  
'Close them." He ordered. She did as he asked and again she felt the sensation of warmth spread through her. The humming of electric equipment faded and instead the sound of crickets filled her ears. "Open your eyes Sarah."  
  
She did so, and gasped. They were in a garden of some sort. The moon had yet to rise but the garden was filled with light. Thousand and thousands of fireflies shared their light with the dark night. It appeared that the stars had come down from the heavens to shine on earth. Sarah couldn't move, couldn't breath. She could not believe the beauty spread around her. There was a white gazebo in the center of the garden and she could see candles flickering within even from the distance she stood from it. Lanterns were lit within the garden, giving off their soft golden glow. The garden was filled with lattice paneled white fences and flowers that were colors she didn't even know existed.   
  
She finally let out a deep breath and turned to Jareth. He gazed down at her with such complete love and joy in his eyes it made her eyes tear up. "Jareth...I...my god, it's beautiful." He smiled.  
  
'I'm glad that you approve."  
  
"I certainly do approve! I can't believe this place. Where is this? I've never seen anything like it."  
  
"And you never will. It's my sanctuary."  
  
"So we're in the underground then?"  
  
He shook his head. "No. This place is between my world and your own. Come, let me show it to you." He offered his arm which she linked her with immediately. He began to show her the wonders of this place. Telling her about many of the different kinds of flowers. As he led her toward the gazebo she turned to him.   
  
"Jareth, why did I have to hurry? What were we going to miss?"  
  
He smiled. "The fire flies." He glanced up at the sky and she noticed suddenly that they were all gone.  
  
"Where did they go?"  
  
"Back to their homes in the trees and plants. Tonight was the last night of their mating. It's the only time you will find so many in one place at the same time."  
  
She felt her cheeks warm even at the mention of the word mating. Jareth looked so positively gorgeous that she wanted to...she shook the wicked thoughts from her mind. Now was not the time.   
  
"Dine with me?"  
  
"Of course." He led her up the 3 steps to the gazebo and pulled out a seat for her. The seat was white and wicker as was the table. Two white taper candles burned in front of each of the place settings. There was fine china on the table. It was incredible. Dinner turned out to be steak with potatoes, and other vegetables as well as bread. It was delicious and better then anything Sarah had ever tasted.  
  
She suddenly chuckled softly which caused Jareth to stare at her. "And just what is so amusing?"  
  
"I was just thinking about the Trash Queen. Jareth that was so incredibly funny. I was seriously about ready to start rolling on the floor with laughter when I saw you put that butter container on her head. She looked so ridicules!"   
  
Jareth laughed softly. "I must say that it was amusing to toy with her."  
  
Her laughter faded and she smiled sweetly at her. "Thank you for standing up for me."  
  
Jareth reached for her hand and squeezed it. "You're welcome." They sat in silence for a while. Sarah leaned back into her seat and glanced at her environment while Jareth cleared the table full of dishes with a simple wave of his hand.  
  
"Jareth...I..I don't know what to say, other then that this has been the most incredible day of my life."  
  
He grinned. "Then say nothing. Just dance with me. I hope that you are not too full to dance."  
  
She shook her head. The idea of being in his arms once again overwhelmed her. He stood and pulled out her chair for her and led her out of the gazebo and out onto a section of the garden that had large pale gray tiles. He bowed before her.   
  
"May I have this dance?" Sarah nodded, biting her lip in anticipation. He gently took one hand into his own and the other fell at her waist. Her hand fell onto his shoulder and soon they were both moving slowly. He began to sing. She had forgotten that he could sing and so beautifully. He sang a haunting melody that she remembered from when she was a child.   
  
There's such a sad love Deep in your eyes  
A kind of pale jewel, open and close  
With in your eyes....  
I'll place the sky with in your eyes.   
  
Sarah leaned her head against his shoulder as he continued to the sing the haunting melody she remembered from so long ago.   
  
As he sang the last verse of the song he leaned closer to her. She looked up at him, seeing the intense love shining back at her. He bent his face down toward her, his lips looming closer and closer. There was no reason to run this time, no reason to shatter the illusion and be the heroine and save her brother. She closed her eyes and his lips touched hers softly, yet firmly. His hand cupped her cheek in its palm. The hand on her waist moved gently over the silky fabric of her dress. Sarah let her arms encircle his neck and she pulled him closer to her. One hand moved down the front of his jacket. Down the sequined shoulder towards the ruffles on his shirt. She slipped her hand inside his jacket, running her palm over the smooth silk of his shirt. She could feel the warmth of his chest beneath the fabric.   
  
He continued to kiss her. He had dreamt of this moment for so many years. Had yearned so badly to finish what was started in the crystal ballroom years ago.   
  
His lips left her mouth and trailed kisses down the length of her neck. Her head rolled back with a groan which made him kiss her even more. He trailed kisses along her collarbone and lower letting his lips touch the skin that was along the low neckline of her dress.   
  
"Jareth..." Her voice was throaty and she was trembling.  
  
"Shall I stop?" He asked pulling his lips from her skin.  
  
"no! I want...."  
  
"What Sarah? What do you want?" She didn't notice the serious look in his eyes.  
  
She picked her head up gazing at him with the fires of passion burning in her eyes. 'I want....you." 


	20. Worries about the Future...

AN: hey everyone. Sorry about this being a short chapter. I didn't have much time to write yesterday and I'm afraid that I won't have any time this weekend. Working 7 hour days today and Sunday. I probably won't have another chapter posted until Tues afternoon. I have a mid term in Gothic Art to study for and I can't procrastinate with it. Can't do it last minute like my gothic art papers so that I can write stories. : ( My apologies to Xeli about this chapter. I promise I won't make you wait too much longer.  
  
  
Worries about the future...  
  
Jareth looked at her, passion in his own eyes. She expected him to bring her to her bedroom, or maybe even his castle. She expected him to make love to her. She didn't expect to hear that words that fell from his lips. "Now is not the time or the place Sarah." He told her. She could see the disappointment, the hurt in his eyes. He wanted her, wanted to give into her. But something held him back.  
  
"When will be the right time and place Jareth?!" There was anger in her voice. Anger from being denied once again to feel his arms around her as he claimed her as his own. "Why won't you finish what you've started??" She was trembling. Why did he tease her like this? He hungrily attacked her and then he retreated.   
  
He sighed. "Because I love you Sarah and I know that even though at this moment you believe that you are ready to take the next step, I know in my heart that you are not."  
  
"Who are you to tell me when I'm ready or not?" She growled.   
  
"Push the desire aside for a moment and think about how you feel. Can you truthfully tell me that you have no doubts about me making love to you? That you feel no fear and no uncertainty? If you can tell me truthfully that there is no doubt in your mind than we will continue this." She stopped, closing her eyes for a moment. She trembled. She wanted him so badly yet there was a voice in her head telling her it was not the time. She wasn't ready for this yet. They still had not talked about so many things that could end up changing or ruining their relationship. They should not share such intimacy until they had settled the things that they both had been pushing aside. Fears and problems they chose to ignore rather then discuss.  
  
She let out a sob and collapsed against him. "Its not fair.." She sobbed.   
  
He took her into his arms and tried to still his racing heart. He wanted nothing more then to take her to his castle and make love to her like he had dreamed of making love to her. But she wasn't ready and neither was he. They had not talked about the future. Where would they live? His castle, her house? What about Aryanna? Would the little girl enjoy hearing that her mother was in love with the Goblin King or would she be upset? Would she accept him as her father if Sarah chose to marry him? He closed his eyes trying to still the thoughts that raced in time with the beating of his heart. He needed to stop teasing her like this, even though he didn't mean to. He needed to stop teasing himself.   
  
"It's late. Let me take you home." She nodded against him, still clinging to him. They appeared in the upstairs hall once again.   
  
"Stay with me tonight Jareth." She whispered against him.   
  
"Sarah..."  
  
'Just lay beside me, like you did today at the beach. That's all I ask." He nodded. "Let me go change for bed." He nodded again and she disappeared into her room. He let out a deep sigh. It would take all his will power to keep his hands to himself tonight. But he would do it.   
  
'Ok you can come in." She called after a short while. Jareth entered. She was pulling down the sheets of her queen sized bed, dressed in a silk nightgown that was lavender in color. She turned and noticed that he had changed as well. He wore a loose fitting shirt and loose fitting pants. Both were white and made of silk. His feet were bare as well as his hands. She smiled at the change. "Is that what you normally sleep in?"  
  
"At home I do." She smiled and turned on the lamp beside her bed. She got up and flipped off the switch of the big light that hung in the center of the room. Jareth swallowed as she plopped herself on the bed and stared at him.   
  
"Are you coming or not?"  
  
He hesitated. "Sarah, I still think this is a bad idea.." She frowned but got up from the bed moving towards him. She took his hands into her own.  
  
"I trust you Jareth. We're both adults. If we can't handle sleeping in the same bed without being touchy, feely in an intimate way, than we have a problem." He nodded and she released his hands, moving back to lie within the sheet. He moved toward her, slipping into the sheets on the opposite side of the bed. She lay on her side and she shut off the lamp beside the bed. He laid on his side as well, his chest against her back. He draped one arm over her and she took his hand in hers, pressing it against her face.   
  
"Good night." She whispered softly.  
  
'Good night Sarah." She was sleeping minutes later and he hated her for that. Sleep had claimed her so easily while he now lay on his back, one hand buried in the top of his hair in desperation, looking up at the ceiling. There was so much to talk about and still neither of them wished to discuss what needed to be said. He knew it was for fear of the consequences, for fear that they could not love each other the way they both wanted to. For fear that circumstances would pull them apart once again. It frightened him, but he knew he could not live without her.   
  
He sighed and rolled over, facing the opposite side of the room. He wanted nothing more then to take her and Aryanna to his castle. He wanted Sarah to be his queen. Aryanna would be a princess living out her fairy tales and he and Sarah could conceive a child together, an heir to the throne. He could picture Sarah, dressed in a gown fit for a queen, a slight swell to her belly where their child grew. A child created from their undying love for one another.   
  
He squeezed his eyes shut, the image in his mind shattering. He needed to be realistic. Sarah wouldn't just let him sweep her off her feet to be taken to the underground. She wouldn't want to live in his filthy castle over run with stupid, annoying goblins. She would want to stay here in her own world, where everything was clean, familiar and where her brother, her work, her daughter's school were. He let out a shuddering sigh. She would never want to go back with him...  
  
He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Are you still awake?" He glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. He had been awake for nearly two hours.   
  
"Go back to sleep Sarah."  
  
He heard her sit up in the bed and she squeezed his shoulder with a small amount of pressure. "Jareth what's wrong?"  
  
He turned his head to regard her worried expression. He reached up to touch her cheek and gave her a warm smile. "I can't sleep is all. Happens every so often. It's nothing for you to be concerned about. Go back to sleep." He gave her a reassuring smile and she smiled in return, lying back down on the mattress. She was asleep again minutes later and he sighed softly, closing his eyes and begging for sleep to take him away from his thoughts. 


	21. The Accident...

AN: Hi everyone! Sorry about the delay in having a chapter posted. I got busy on Tuesday as well as most of today. Thank you all for the reviews. Please keep them coming!   
  
The Accident...  
  
The sound of the telephone ringing scared Sarah out of her wits and she felt Jareth jump beside her in the bed. It rang two more times before she reached over to the table beside her bed and picked up the receiver.   
  
'He-Hello?" She said sleepily into the phone. "Hi Cheryl." Sarah suddenly sat up quickly in the bed and gasped and Jareth was wide awake. Something was wrong he could sense it from the silence.   
  
"What! Oh God, is he all right? Yeah....yeah...I'm getting dressed right now and I'll be there as quick as I can." She slammed the phone down quickly and threw the covers off of her. They landed on Jareth who tossed them out of his way.   
  
"Sarah, what's wrong?" She didn't see the concern laced in his eyes, didn't even acknowledge his presence as she rushed about.  
  
She didn't reply but ran to her closet tossing jeans onto the floor and then rushed to her bureau to find a sweater. She didn't bother rushing to the bathroom to change. She reached for the jeans and started pulling them up beneath the skirt of her nightgown.   
  
"Close your eyes." She told him. He nodded and decided to turn away from her completely, standing and facing the opposite side of the room. She quickly put on a bra and pulled the sweater up over her head.   
  
"Sarah, what's wrong?" He asked again.   
  
"Ok you can turn around now." She tossed her nightgown on the bed and quickly pulled socks on to her feet. Jareth was at her side and he could see her shaking as she tried to pull her shoes on over the socks. She was having trouble getting them on her feet and Jareth reached for her.   
  
"Sarah..."  
  
"Get dressed and hurry up." She ordered and she pulled away from him rushing down the stairs. He stood bewildered for a moment. He heard her open the door to the garage and start up the car. He sighed heavily and disappeared from the room.   
  
He reappeared inside the car in the garage, fully clothed. Sarah wasn't startled by his sudden appearance in the least and she slammed her door shut. She shifted the car into reverse, not bothering to let it warm up squealed out of the garage nearly hitting the garage door that was still opening. She pulled out into the street and slammed her foot on the gas leaving tire marks in the road and a cloud of smoke behind her. Jareth gripped the armrest tightly.   
  
"Sarah!" She was driving like a mad woman, swerving around corners so tightly that Jareth went slamming into the door more then once. He quickly donned his seatbelt. "What is wrong with you? Are you trying to get us killed!"  
  
"I have to hurry up and get there." Was all she said. She was still shaking. He could see her hands shaking as they gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white.   
  
"Where? What is going on?" He raised his voice a little higher then he meant to as she went swerving around another corner.   
  
"My brother got rushed to the hospital ok!! He got hit by some asshole drunk driver who decided to go out driving early this morning! My brother went to get some donuts 5 minutes down the street from his apartment and he got hit! His car is totaled and ...and I have no idea if he's going to...live." She choked out her words and hastily wiped the tears that started pouring down her face with the sleeve of her shirt. Jareth paled as the words sank into his mind.   
  
Sarah took the next corner a little slower. "Cheryl said he went into emergency surgery. He has internal bleeding and they need to stop it. She and my daughter are at the hospital. She sounded a mess on the phone." She was suddenly a little more composed and Jareth realized that she was repressing her emotions, pushing them aside so she could deal with things.   
  
A few minutes later they were at the hospital downtown and Sarah quickly pulled into a parking space. She and Jareth rushed from the car and into the lobby. Cheryl was there pacing back and forth and Aryanna was sitting in a chair crying softly.   
  
"Cheryl!" Just looking at Cheryl and her daughter made Sarah realize that things were not good. The tall redhead rushed at Sarah throwing her arms around her. She began to sob. "Sssshh." Sarah whispered. Ary saw Jareth and rushed into his arms. He picked her up and she buried her face into his neck crying.   
  
"Sshh. It's all right." He whispered softly. He stood rocking her as she clutched him so tightly that he winced. He ran one gloved hand over her back to try and settle her. She was frightened and trembling like a scared animal.   
  
Cheryl pulled away from Sarah trying to compose herself.   
  
"What's the news?" Sarah asked softly. She was afraid of the response.  
  
"He's still in surgery. It's too early to know. God Sarah, if you saw his car...you wouldn't even recognize it. The police officer said that the idiot must have hit him at a high speed and Toby went flying off the road and into a tree. The driver's side curled around the tree as if it was made out a plastic or something..." She nervously chewed on her fingernails.   
  
Sarah let out a whimper as an image of Toby's firebird wrapped around a tree flashed into her mind. Jareth was by her side in an instant. Ary was still curled up against him as he cradled her in one arm. He moved to embrace Sarah but a doctor was approaching.   
  
"Cheryl Metrop?"  
  
'Yes?"  
  
"Are you Mr. William's sister?" He asked Sarah. She nodded and bit her lip. "He's out of surgery and in the recovery room right now." He let out a sigh. "I have to be honest with you both. His injuries were extensive. He suffered a serious blow to the head that rendered him unconscious and he had internal bleeding in his abdomen."   
  
Tears stung Sarah's eyes as if someone had poked her with sharp pins. She couldn't lose Toby. He was all she had left of her family. Her father and step mother were dead, the victims of a car accident. She couldn't lose her brother the same way. And her mother? She hadn't heard from her since Ary's birth. She didn't qualify as family anymore.  
  
"If it's any comfort to you, I've read the preliminary police report and I have to say that after reading it, this young man is lucky to be alive. He should by all accounts be dead, but he's still hanging on."  
  
"When can we see him?" Sarah asked fighting to keep her voice steady.  
  
"He's in recovery right now and in about 45 minutes he'll be moved to a room. A nurse will visit you to tell you the room number."  
  
"Thank you doctor." He nodded and turned to walk back the way he came.  
  
"Oh god..." Cheryl sobbed.   
  
Sarah reached for one of Cheryl's hands and gripped it tightly in her own. "He's still alive Cheryl. We have to have faith. Toby is a strong kid, he'll pull through this."  
  
Cheryl bit her lower lip and nodded. "I...I'm going to call my mom." Sarah nodded and watched the young woman walk away toward a pay phone on the other side of the lobby. She turned back to Jareth who had taken a seat in one of the blue cushioned chairs with Ary still in his arms. He was soothing her with soft words.   
  
Less then 10 minutes later Cheryl's mom showed up and Cheryl rushed at her pulling her mother into a tight embrace. She tried to soothe her daughter's fears and stayed a short while to get the news of what had happened.   
  
"Sarah, do you want me to look after Aryanna for you? The hospital is no place for a little girl. I'll bring her out for breakfast and then she could play with my neighbor's children. She got along with them very well last time she stayed with me."   
  
"Mrs. Metrop I don't want her to be a burden."   
  
"She's not a burden dear. Please. Let me do this for you." Sarah nodded, grateful for the offer. Sarah walked to Jareth who still sat in a chair with the little girl cradled in one arm, her face buried in the long strands of his blond hair. She looked as if she was hiding from the world.   
  
"Ary sweetie. Hon, I need you to be a big girl." Ary pulled her face from Jareth's neck and regarded her mother. Sarah reached out to push back her long dark hair. "Can you be a big girl for mommy?" She nodded without a sound. "Mrs. Metrop is going to take care of you for a little while, all right? She's going to take you out for breakfast and you can play with Kimberly and Jacob, the kids who live next door. Would you like that?"  
  
She looked hesitant for a moment and looked at Jareth. "Go on and have a good time." Jareth told her.   
  
"Can we go to McDonald's for breakfast?" Ary asked.   
  
"We can go anywhere you would like." Cheryl's mom told her.   
  
"Go on." Jareth told her as he placed her down in front of him. "We'll see you later."  
  
"Ok..." she said softly.   
  
"That's my big girl." Sarah kissed her forehead. Cheryl's mom took her hand and Sarah nodded her thanks.   
  
"Keep me updated please." She then hugged her daughter before leaving the hospital with Aryanna in tow.   
  
Sarah sighed wishing she was young enough to not need to worry so. She felt a hand gently run along the top of her shoulder. Jareth gently squeezed her and she closed her eyes. She refused to cry.   
  
"Miss Metrop, Miss Williams?" Sarah and Cheryl looked up to see a nurse. "Mr. Williams has been moved to Room 195 D. It's on the second level. You won't be able to see him for a short while as the nurses change his bandages but you'll be able to sit outside the room."  
  
"Thank you." Sarah managed softly. The nurse nodded and was gone. "Might as well go sit up there."   
  
The trio walked to an elevator and rode it up to the second level. They found the room easily. The blinds had been drawn shut and they couldn't see into the room and Jareth could see that this bothered Sarah. She was tired of waiting. She wanted to see her brother. There were only two chairs and Cheryl took a seat in one of them. Jareth begged Sarah to sit in the other but she retorted to pacing in front of the room. Jareth took a seat with a sigh.   
  
He watched Sarah pace back and forth in front of him. She had yet to break down except for the few tears that had escaped during the car ride to the hospital. Back and forth and forth and back she walked. Jareth watched her for five minutes and finally when she least expected it he reached for her hand and pulled her into his lap.   
  
"Jareth!"  
  
"You're wearing yourself out. Sit and take a rest." She tried to rise but he held her firmly against him. She ceased her struggling but made no movement to take comfort from him.   
  
And so the three of them sat and waited...and waited...and waited. It was nearly 2 o clock when the door of the room finally opened. Sarah was standing in an instant. Jareth and Cheryl rose quickly to their feet.   
  
"You can see him now. He's still unconscious, but sometimes if you talk to them, they hear you and wake up."   
  
Sarah nodded and entered the room. When her eyes fell on Toby they filled with tears but they didn't fall. Cheryl began to cry the moment she saw him and Sarah quickly embraced her. Jareth stood silently in the doorway. They stayed within the room for hours siting by the bed and talking to Toby. Begging him to keep fighting, to awaken, that they both needed them. Jareth listened quietly and waited. When he and Sarah were a lone he had something he needed to tell her.   
  
No one even thought about food and soon dinner had come and gone, just as breakfast and lunch had. Soon the hospital's visiting hours were over and they were forced to leave.   
  
"Cheryl do you want to stay with me?" Sarah asked her.   
  
"Thank you, but I think I'm going to stay with my mom. Oh she called by the way and she said that Ary is sleeping so she figured she could just sleep over. Maybe even stay over for a few days. She said she would drop her off at school and pick her up in the afternoon."  
  
"no, she doesn't have to do that."  
  
"She insists. You know my mom Sarah. What she says, goes." Sarah nodded and hugged Cheryl.   
  
"Please tell her thank you that I will make this up to her. I'll bring over some clothes in the morning. I'm taking the next few days off until Toby gets better." She sounded as if she had every confidence that her brother would live. "Get some rest, hey kiddo?" Cheryl nodded and reached for her car keys in her purse. The women gave each other one last hug before they went their separate ways.   
  
Sarah didn't say a single word to Jareth in the car and he was extremely worried about her. She was bottling her emotions up inside of her and that wasn't good for her. They drove back to the house and she went directly to the kitchen to fill up the coffee maker to start a fresh pot. As she brought the filled pot of water to dump into the coffee maker her trembling hands lost a grip on it and it went crashing to the floor. The water spilled everywhere as the glass coffee pot shattered sending glass in all directions.  
  
"Shit!" She cried out. She dropped quickly to the floor to begin cleaning it up and cut her hand on a jagged piece of glass. The blood dripped from her hand and diluted in the water already on the floor.  
  
"Leave it.. I'll clean it." Jareth told her softly.   
  
"No.. it's... it's all right. It's only a small cut." She reached for the glass and Jareth intercepted her, taking her hands into his. He pulled her to her feet and into his arms, which he wrapped tightly around her. She resisted at first. He stroked her hair, her face. He could see that she was fighting so hard to keep her emotions in check. The Sarah he knew from long ago had not disappeared.   
  
He continued to try and soothe her and finally the tears came, like a raging deluge. She clutched Jareth to her as if she was fearful that he would vanish, as if she might lose him. She buried her face into his neck, ugly sobs emanating from her. He smoothed her hair with one hand, let the other roam over her back. He held her in the dark kitchen, whispering soft words into her hair. His precious Sarah. She had suffered far worse then he had over the last twenty years and her suffering was far from over it seemed.... 


	22. Heal and Hurt...

AN: Hi everyone. Boy I guess I had some upset readers this chapter. Sorry. You'll probably all get frustrated with me more when you read what I have in mind for the future. Although who knows with how this story is going. It's getting very long! Well I'll stop babbling and let you read ; )  
  
Disclaimers: Standard ones apply.  
  
Heal and Hurt...  
  
Jareth continued to offer her comfort. She was trembling in his arms. Just when things had started to turn out better for her. Jareth had re-entered her life, she loved him, he loved her and her daughter had grown attached to him. But now things had turned so terribly wrong once again. Toby was lying in a hospital bed fighting for his life.   
  
"Oh god...Jareth...I'm so...scared!" She choked out as she clutched him tightly.  
  
"Sshhh." He buried his face in her hair and continued to run his hands over her back.   
  
"What if I ...lose Toby? I...can't lose..him."   
  
"He's strong Sarah. You said it so yourself. Although there is something...." His words trailed off.   
  
She pulled back, the tears still streaming down her cheeks. "What? What were you going to say?" His mismatched eyes locked with hers for a brief moment. He seemed pained and troubled as she did.   
  
"It's risky, but I have a plan that may save your brother's life."  
  
"What is it?!"  
  
"I would attempt to bring him to the Underground so that Megmora could heal him, but I fear that he would not make the journey in his condition. I would bring Megmora here but she would resist. She is not overly fond of the mortal world." He pulled back from her looking into her eyes. "I could try to heal him.."  
  
"But you said that you don't have any healing powers."  
  
"And I don't. But Megmora does."  
  
"But you just said that she wouldn't come here!" Damn him! He was taking in circles, confusing the hell out of her.   
  
"I could be a channel for Megmora's power. It's a slight risk to me but it would be worth the risk to save your brother. He could remain in the hospital so that he would be well cared for and when we visit him I could give him magical treatments. Megmora's healing power would help him. Her magic could save his life."  
  
Sarah reached up to touch his face with her fingers. "What are the risks for you? You said it was risky."  
  
Jareth was touched by her concern but he didn't allow her to see it. "The risks are not too great. I will be weakened and will need rest after each session, but I should be all right."  
  
"Should?"  
  
"Sarah, I'll be fine. Let me do this to help your brother. We will go in the morning and start the first session."  
  
Sarah didn't say anything, but her gaze was faraway. Jareth gripped her arms tightly, he knew what she was thinking. "He will be there in the morning. He's strong Sarah. He will survive." She nodded and rested against him once more. "You need to eat something. I'll make us some dinner."  
  
"I'm not hungry."  
  
"Sarah you need to eat. Or perhaps you want your brother to see you faint after he has awakened? You've eaten nothing all day. Please." She nodded. He lowered his lips to hers in a quick kiss and then began to comb the cabinets for something to eat. He settled on making soup and he was pleased that she finished all of it.   
  
It was late and after eating they both decided that they should try and sleep. Jareth decided it would be better if he stayed with her and he crawled into bed with her as he had done the previous night. She tossed and turned for a while until he started to sing to her. She had never heard the song before, but the sound of his voice, soft and soothing lulled her to sleep. When he saw that she was sleeping he kissed her cheek and lowered his head to the pillow. Sleep claimed him much faster then the previous night.   
  
When he awakened in the morning, Sarah was not in the bed. He found her in Ary's room packing some clothes and a few of her toys. He watched her for a moment and then snapped his fingers disappearing to the kitchen to fix her breakfast and some coffee. She graciously accepted the coffee and drained it in seconds.   
  
"Well no phone calls last night or this morning so that's a good sign." She shrugged trying to sound hopeful.   
  
Jareth walked to her in a few steps and pulled her into his arms. "I will help him today Sarah. I contacted Megmora last night. She is willing to channel some of her magic through me."  
  
"I owe her big time and you...you can have anything you want if my brother survives." She leaned against him and he put his arms around her.  
  
He smiled and pulling back looked into her eyes. "I already have what I want Sarah. I have you in my life again." She smiled sweetly. " Now, I take it that you are going to stop at Mrs. Metrop's to drop off Ary's clothes before we go to the hospital?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well then why don't we leave now. I'm sure Ary will want to see us before she goes to school and before we go to the hospital."  
  
"Good idea. Just let me call work first and tell them that I won't be in for a few days."  
  
  
  
Aryanna was very happy to see her mother and Jareth as well. She had been hanging all over him the minute he entered Mrs. Metrop's house. Sarah thanked the older woman for taking care of Ary and that she appreciated it tremendously. Cheryl's mom was glad to do it with the circumstances. Cheryl decided to again take her own car to the hospital and she followed Sarah and Jareth.   
  
Seeing Toby lying in that bed, bandages, on his head and his side, purple bruises forming on his skin made Sarah want to cry. He looked much worse then the previous day, but he was alive. Unconscious but alive.   
  
Cheryl sat on one side of the bed, holding Toby's hand in her own. Her face was buried in the blanket that covered him. Sarah sat on the opposite side and she whispered to Jareth that now would be a good time to use that magic on Toby. Cheryl still didn't know the truth about Jareth. No one had bothered to fill her in and now really wasn't the time.  
  
Jareth gently rested his gloved hands on Toby's arm. He closed his eyes and concentrated, a faint glow surrounded Toby's body. Sarah could see that the magic was working all ready. Toby seemed to be breathing easier and on his own instead of relying so heavily on the oxygen machine. When she turned her eyes back to Jareth she noticed sweat dripping down the sides of his face. His eyes were still closed, his skin looked paler then usual and he was beginning to tremble. Sarah gazed at him, a worried expression on her face. But she didn't say a word. She trusted him, trusted his judgement....   
  
Jareth continued to channel Megmora's magic to the mortal boy who lay in the bed for several more minutes. The magic that filled the Goblin King's body was red hot, foreign, and painful. It felt as if he were burning alive on the inside. It was taking all of his strength to remain in control, to continue to feed the magic that was healing Sarah's brother but was hurting him. His trembling grew worse; the pain searing through him was unbearable. With an anguished cry, he released Toby's arm and went sprawling backwards, landing on the floor in a trembling heap. Sarah gasped, startled by his sudden reaction and she knelt on the floor beside him. He was breathing heavily and he was very pale. His eyes were squeezed shut and he appeared to be in pain.   
  
Cheryl heard the crash on the other side of the room and she lifted her head from the blankets to see what was going on. She didn't see Sarah or Jareth sitting but heard Sarah softly calling Jareth's name. Cheryl was on her feet in an instant and she rushed to the opposite side of the bed. She gasped her jaw hanging open, frozen in place. Sarah looked up at her, fear in her hazel eyes.   
  
"Cheryl help me get him back onto the chair, he...I don't think he's well." Cheryl didn't move. "Cheryl?"  
  
The fact that Jareth was doubled over with spasms wracking his body was one harsh site for Cheryl to see but nothing prepared her for what else she would find. "What...what happened to him? Why is he dressed like that?" She rubbed her eyes with her hands. The image was still in front of her. Jareth was no longer dressed in jeans and a sweater, his hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. He was in strange clothing, most of it black, he wore a cape,his hair was wild and spiky and reminded her of a hairdo from the 80s.   
  
"Cheryl what are you talking about?" She didn't have time for this, something was terribly wrong with Jareth. His head was in Sarah's lap, his breathing erratic, his hands gripping her desperately.  
  
"He...he...he just had on jeans and a sweater and now...now he's got some weird clothes on and his hair is all spiky and..."   
  
Sarah's jaw dropped as the realization hit her. Cheryl could see Jareth as he truly was. His magical illusion must have faded when he collapsed and now Cheryl could see him as the Goblin King. A feeling of dread washed over her. If Cheryl could see him and his illusion was gone, that meant anyone could see him.   
  
Sarah rose to her feet quickly. "We all have a lot of explaining to do Cheryl, but please you have to help me get him out of here. I don't want to even think about what would happen if someone figured out who he is..."  
  
"Who is he?" Cheryl demanded, her hands on her hips as she glared daggers at Sarah. They had been keeping her in the dark. Had Toby done the same? Did Toby know who Jareth really was too?  
  
"I'll explain everything to you later, please help me get him out of here." Sarah pleaded desperately. The spasms that wracked Jareth's body were diminishing and Sarah wanted nothing more then to get him home, away from the people she knew would ridicule him or worse yet discover that he was different then they were. Sarah helped him sit up and she glanced up at Cheryl who was towering over her and the fallen Goblin King.   
  
Cheryl hesitated as she looked at him, his head rolled backward to fall on Sarah's shoulder. He looked so alien with his wild hair and pale sculptured face, nothing like the handsome man she once thought him to be that night she met him at Eddy's with Sarah.   
  
"Cheryl please." Sarah saw the hesitation in her eyes. "He's the same Jareth that went out to dinner with us, the same one my little girl adores. He just looks different then what you remember."  
  
Cheryl nodded slowly and she helped Sarah pull Jareth to his feet. Despite his slender figure he was dead weight that Sarah would not have been able to deal with alone.  
  
"I need to get him to my car. But they're going to see me bring him out of here. I can't just walk with him down to the lobby. " She began to panic as she thought of the terrible predicament she was in. Someone would surely stop her and try to put Jareth in a bed with his condition. He was incredibly weak and he needed support to walk. And his appearance, that alone might cause some attention.   
  
"I saw some back stairs when I went to use the bathroom yesterday. Maybe if we get him down those you could escape out the back of the hospital."  
  
Sarah nodded. "Ok, Jareth, can you hear me?" He nodded slowly and tried to open his eyes, but the light was too much for him and he closed them quickly, burying his face into Sarah's shoulder. "I know you're weak, but you have to try and walk. I'm not strong enough to bring you all the way to the car."  
  
"I'll help you as far as I can." Cheryl told her. Sarah nodded, her appreciation showing clearly in her eyes.  
  
The hallway was nearly empty except for one old woman in a wheelchair who was waiting by the door to a room   
  
Jareth was extremely weak and every time he tried to take a step he nearly fell. Cheryl and Sarah had to pretty much drag him out of the room and down the hall to the stairs, one arm around each of their necks as they supported him. They brought him slowly down each flight of stairs, holding their breath that no one would see them. It was tedious and each step seemed to be agony for Jareth. They made it to the bottom and had started with him across the parking lot before anyone saw them.   
  
"HEY!! STOP RIGHT THERE!!" It was a security officer who cried out from across the parking lot. Sarah could imagine how this looked. 2 women dragging a man across the parking lot. A man who was dressed in strange clothing and who was weak and couldn't walk on his own. The officer might think that they had just smuggled someone out of the hospital without a doctor's permission.   
  
"We're almost to the car. Keep going." Sarah urged. They reached her station wagon and the two women quickly put Jareth on the back seat. He fell over onto the seat, a crumpled mass of black except for his blond hair, his body nearly as lifeless as Toby's.  
  
"I'm going back inside to stay with Toby." Cheryl told her. "Is he going to be all right?"  
  
"I don't know. He told me there would be risks if he tried to save Toby but this...this wasn't what I expected." Sarah was trembling and Cheryl embraced the older woman. Cheryl had no idea what was going on, but she had a funny feeling that Jareth had somehow tried to save Toby.  
  
"You should go before the security guard sees you." Sarah told her, pulling back from her embrace. Fresh tears clouded her eyes. Cheryl nodded and tore off through the parking lot at break neck speed .She rushed around to the side of the building. She could re-enter the hospital through the Surgi Center. Sarah started her car and pulled out of the lot before the security officer was even close enough to get her license plate number.   
  
Jareth was laying on his side in the back seat and he was trembling. Sarah started shaking as she gripped the steering wheel. She stayed within the speed limit, for fear that she might be stopped by a cop. Her brother was in the hospital and now something was wrong with Jareth. Could her life get any worse?  
  
The drive home felt much longer then it should have been. She pulled into the garage quickly and hit the garage door button so that no one would see her try to drag Jareth into the house. She managed to get him in the living room where he suddenly collapsed onto the floor, spasms wracking his body. Sarah let out a cry. This was like the night he came home injured all over again.   
  
The spasms eventually slowed and ceased altogether and Sarah cradled the Goblin King in her arms, sobs wracking her body. She buried her face into his soft hair, rocking him and crying. Her life felt like an   
endless vicious cycle where anyone who got close to her was hurt emotionally or physically.   
  
"Sarah...." His voice was soft, but she heard it and pulled back. He was staring up at her, his breathing a little heavier then usual.   
  
"Oh god Jareth...what happened? You said it wasn't too risky!" She cried out.  
  
"I...I didn't know....I've never channeled...someone else's....magic. My body rejected...the magic... but I felt it flow...to Toby. I'm...all right."  
  
"You're not all right." He was still trembling slightly and his face was still pale, much more then it normally was.  
  
"I will be in a short time." His breathing was slowing, the color suddenly returning to his face.   
  
"You scared the shit out of me Jareth! For god sakes! I didn't need this right now! Not when my brother is dying in the hospital!"  
  
"He's not dying any longer....I felt the magic working."  
  
" I saw that he seemed to be breathing on his own, but I didn't notice much else. I couldn't. Not when you went tumbling backwards. Cheryl had to help me drag you out of the hospital and we nearly got caught. Your illusion wasn't working and Cheryl saw what you really look like, which meant that so could anyone else."  
  
"Sarah....I'm sorry. I thought I could handle the magic. It appears that I could not."  
  
Just then the phone rang. She didn't make a move to answer it. Dread coursed her veins.  
  
"Go on Sarah. Answer it. It might be important." She let out a heavy sigh and left his side stepping into the kitchen.   
  
'Hello?"  
  
"Hey sis."  
  
"Toby!!!! Oh my god!!" She erupted in laughter. Laughing and crying at the same time.   
  
"Hey calm down..."  
  
"I.. I can't believe I'm talking to you after what just happened! He did it.. he did it!" She kept saying.   
  
"Who did what?" Toby asked her.  
  
"Jareth 's magic worked. He healed you. You're awake!"  
  
"He used magic on me?"  
  
"Yes! I'll explain everything to you later! Oh god Toby, I can't believe it! You're awake!"  
  
"I can't talk Sarah. The doctor is here wanting to give me a check up. He's amazed that I'm awake and even more amazed that my injuries aren't as serious as they were yesterday."  
  
"I'll stop back by the hospital as soon as I can."  
  
"Stay with Jareth. I'm ok. Cheryl said he's not feeling so well. She told me what happened and how you had to drag him out of the hospital."  
  
"It was a nightmare Tobe."  
  
"Stay with him...The doctor will be running tests for a while anyway so you wouldn't be able to see me. I'll call you when they're done, ok?" Sarah nodded even though she knew he couldn't see her.   
  
"I love you Toby."  
  
"I love you too Sarah. I'll see you later." She heard the phone click at his end and she hung up her own back on the kitchen wall.  
  
Sarah sighed feeling some of the weight she had been holding lessen. Toby was awake. Jareth's plan had worked. Jareth was suddenly standing beside her, balancing himself in the doorway. His legs were shaking beneath him. He was still very weak.  
  
"He's ok." She told him, tears started falling from her eyes. Jareth lifted one arm toward her, beckoning her to come to him. She didn't need any coaxing and she rushed into his arms. "I owe you so much..." She told him.   
  
"You owe me nothing."  
  
"But what you did..." She told him, pulling back.  
  
"I did it because I love you Sarah and I can't bear to see you hurt. I did it because you and your family are the closest thing I've got to family and I can't bear to see any of you hurt. Toby loves you Sarah. He protected you when no one else did. I would give my life for him if I had to."  
  
She pulled him to her tightly. "I love you so much."  
  
"I know..." He placed a kiss on her head. "Help me to the couch?" She nodded and slowly they walked to the couch where he collapsed. He leaned back, his head resting against her. "I'm sorry that I frightened you. I never meant to."  
  
'Sshh. I know you didn't. You just saved my brother's life. I think I can find it in my heart to forgive you." He smiled tilting his head back to look up into her face.   
  
"Are we going back to see Toby?"  
  
'Not right now. The doctor is running some tests. It'll be a while. He said he would call back." She gazed up at him. "And you, you're not going anywhere. Not after what just happened."  
  
He nodded. "I'm a little weak but no worse for wear."  
  
"A little weak? You should stay in bed the rest of the day!"  
  
He reached up with one gloved hand and traced her cheek. "If it puts you at ease I will stay in bed."  
  
"It will put me at ease." He lowered his hand and let it fall to his side. He closed his eyes and just rested against her.   
  
She watched him, her eyes full of love as she stared down at him. What he had done for her, putting himself at risk like he had to save her brother.... . "Jareth when you and Toby are feeling better and things are pretty much back to normal...we need to talk. Really sit down and talk."  
  
"We've left certain things go unsaid for far too long." He told her, not moving.   
  
"They won't be left unsaid for too much longer." She told him placing a kiss on his forehead. . He didn't reply but nestled closer to her, burying his face into her chest. Those unsaid words frightened him far more then any that had already been said. She smoothed back his wild, unruly hair from his face and rested her chin against his head.   
  
She realized that he had fallen asleep and she raised her head, gazing down at him. She watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he took in and let out each breath. He looked so peaceful. It was almost hard for her to picture him as the insolent Goblin King she knew he could be. She knew that part of him was still buried deep within him, but she didn't care. She loved him, everything about him. The darkness, the arrogance, the unexpected sweetness he had shown to her and her daughter. She rested her chin against the softness of his hair and closed her eyes. They had not even talked things out yet and she had already made up her mind... 


	23. Explanations...

AN: Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay in the next chapter. I had another busy weekend. Worked all day Friday and Saturday and went to my best friend's wedding shower today. Finally got a chance to write after I got back from that so here is the next chapter. I have to say that you guys make me smile when I read the reviews. All the bribing is just too funny. Thank you for the Jareth shaped cookies. They arrived on my doorstep by FedEx yesterday morning. And thanks to Addie for my Tony the Tiger clone. He's Grrreat!! Hee hee. Ok on to the story....  
  
  
Explanations   
  
  
It was nearly 3 in the afternoon when the phone rang. Sarah lifted her head, hearing the distant ringing as she awakened. She felt weight on her and glanced down to see Jareth sleeping against her, his head resting against her stomach. She slowly eased out from under him, laying his head down on the couch and rushed to the kitchen phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Sarah, it's Cheryl. The doctors are finally done poking and prodding Toby and he wants to see you." Sarah noticed a coldness in her voice.   
  
"Ok. Tell him that I'll be there in a little while."  
  
Cheryl didn't even bother saying goodbye as Sarah heard the phone click down. She held the receiver in her hand and pulled it away slowly from her ear to put it back on its holder on the wall. She let out a sigh. She should have expected this. She couldn't blame Cheryl for being angry with her. Not only had she but Toby had also kept Jareth's secret from her.   
  
She looked back to the couch. Jareth had rolled over onto his side, the front of him facing the couch cushions. She decided that she wouldn't wake him. He needed his rest after what he had gone through earlier that day. She hurriedly grabbed her purse and keys and went to the garage.   
  
  
Sarah opened the door to Toby's room slowly. She didn't know what to expect when she opened it. She was pleasantly surprised to see Toby sitting up, propped against pillows. Cheryl was sitting beside him, holding his hand in hers.   
  
"Sarah!" She smiled shyly as she closed the door behind her and then she walked to her brother giving him a kiss on the cheek.   
  
She pulled back, glancing him over. "Is this the same young man who just got admitted into the hospital yesterday morning?" She chided. The magic treatment had done remarkable work. Toby looked alive and well. He was still bandaged, battered and bruised but even the color of his bruises looked less in intensity. He looked like he was doing very well on the road to recovery.   
  
Toby chuckled softly. "The doctors don't know what to say. I'm healing quickly, much quicker then they expected. They've dubbed me the 'Miracle Man'." Toby glanced around Sarah, as if looking for someone. "Where's Jareth? Is he feeling alright? Cher said he didn't look so well."   
  
Sarah sat in the empty chair to the left of Toby and glanced at Cheryl who gave her a hard stare. "He..he's ok. He's very weak and he needed to rest. He fell asleep on the couch, so I figured that I would let him sleep."  
  
"I don't know what the hell he did to me, but whatever it was, it worked. I feel pretty damn good, much better then my poor bird."  
  
"I haven't seen it yet. I'm sure I'll see the pictures." She told him referring to his precious car. It had been a 18th birthday present from Dad and Karen.   
  
"So are two just going to ignore me and not fill me in?" Cheryl shot out bitterly. "I mean what should I be thinking right now? You two have obviously been keeping me in the dark about whoever the hell that freaky man is."  
  
"Cher, that was uncalled for. That freaky man saved my life." Toby told her. "And I acted like such an ass to him at Eddy's."  
  
Sarah placed a hand on Toby's arm. "He forgives you Toby. He knows that you were just looking out for my best interests." Sarah gazed at Cheryl. "Cheryl, we didn't mean to keep you in the dark for so long. It's just...we had no idea how you would react."  
  
"What the hell is he? Or who is he? An actor? A..a weird rock star? A drag queen?"  
  
Sarah shook her head. "I don't think you're going to believe who he is."  
  
"Try me."  
  
Sarah glanced at Toby who sent her a goofy smile. "Jareth...Jareth...well...he's the Goblin King."  
  
"The what huh?"  
  
"The Goblin King...you know, lord of the Labyrinth, King of the Goblins?"  
  
"No I don't know. This is some kind of joke right? He's got to be an actor right? Some big actor and you're trying to hide his identity from me."  
  
Sarah shook her head again. "He's not an actor. What you saw this morning, that's who he really is."  
  
"But he didn't look like that all the other times that I've seen him."  
  
"That's because he had placed an illusion over himself so he would look....normal." Cheryl looked thoroughly confused.   
  
"Maybe we should tell her the story Sarah. Maybe you should tell her about how you met Jareth 20 years ago." Toby suggested.   
  
"Wait a minute. You already knew him?"  
  
Sarah nodded. "Yes. I met him when I was 15. I'll tell you the story."   
  
Sarah proceeded to tell Cheryl everything that had happened. Being forced to babysit Toby, wishing for the goblins to take him away, her first meeting with the Goblin King, her friends, her journey, her defeat of Jareth and his Labyrinth and his undying love for her."  
  
"I just don't believe this." Cheryl told her.  
  
"It's true, every last word of it."  
  
"So then he used magic to heal Toby?"  
  
Sarah simply nodded. She didn't feel like going into a conversation about how Jareth couldn't heal and had used someone else's magic to get the job done.   
  
"This is all a little hard to swallow. I mean Goblin Kings, goblins, labyrinths, magic." She sighed brushing back her long red hair. "So why did you guys keep me in the dark for so long?" Sarah didn't miss the hurt in her voice. "I mean Ary must know about this right?"  
  
Sarah nodded sadly. "Ary was the one who summoned him and brought him back into my life. She knows exactly who he is."  
  
"So why keep this from me? Don't you guys trust me?" Cheryl turned to Toby. "Don't you trust me?"  
  
"It wasn't Toby's call to judge whether you were trust worthy or not. I asked him not to tell you and I asked Ary the same." Sarah sighed. "Cheryl you don't believe in fairy tales and I didn't want Jareth to be ridiculed, even if it was unintentional on your part. I can see that being here in this world is torture for him. Sometimes he will say the wrong thing in public and the looks people give him, I know they are hurting him and that's without them even knowing that he really looks like. My neighbor starting calling him a freak the other day and I know he was upset. He even asked me if I thought he was a freak."  
  
"Linda called him a freak to his face?" Toby asked, his eyes widening.   
  
"Yes. I put Ary on the bus and she saw him on the porch and started pointing and calling him a freak and that was before she even saw what he really looks like. He took his revenge on her, but I know she hurt him with her words."  
  
"What did Jareth do to her?"  
  
Sarah grinned. "He dubbed her the Trash Queen. Made her garbage bags explode and all the trash went all over her beautiful green lawn. He even put a butter container on her head like a crown."  
  
Toby and Cheryl started laughing. "No way? He did that to Linda?" Toby asked. Sarah nodded, laughing herself. "Man I would have paid to see that!"  
  
Sarah chuckled before she became serious. "But can you see where I was standing, Cheryl? He came back into my life and before I even realized that I loved him, I wanted to protect him. He's been protecting me, making sure I eat, that I laugh, that I'm happy. I felt like it was my job to keep the cruel harsh words of others away from him. He's not from this world and I was so afraid that by you not enjoying fantasy and fairy tales that you would ridicule him." There it was finally said. It felt like hours later that Cheryl finally responded.  
  
"I understand and maybe what you did was right. I mean I hate to admit it but I was the girl who made fun of the freaks in high school and believe me when I say that I'm not proud of that fact. My mom and dad raised me better then that." She lowered her head shamefully.  
  
"If you can respect Jareth for who he is and what he does...then I think you can be forgiven."  
  
"He's really sweet and...if you and Toby and Ary like him...then I'm sure my original opinion of him won't change." Sarah smiled, feeling as if more weight had been lifted from her shoulders.   
  
The three sat and talked for a while longer before Sarah glanced at the clock realizing that it was nearly 8 o clock. Time and flown by and she wanted to check on Jareth and make sure that he was all right. She kissed Toby goodnight and told him that she would visit him tomorrow. She also told Cheryl to tell her mom that she would pick Ary up from school the following afternoon. She grabbed a quick burger and fries from the hospital cafeteria and started for home.  
  
The house was quiet when Sarah entered it. The lights were off except for the kitchen light over the sink. She noticed that the mess she had made with the coffee pot the night before was gone and when she thought of it she realized that it had been gone that morning too. Jareth must have cleaned it up.   
  
She walked into the living room expecting Jareth to be sleeping there and she was a little worried when she the empty couch. She grew more alarmed when she peeked into his room and saw that he wasn't lying in his bed either. For an instant she panicked, thought that maybe he had gone home, had left her again. She forced the thought from her mind.   
  
She flipped the light switch in her room, putting on the overhead light and she went to her bureau to find her nightgown. She turned to put the nightgown down on the bed and a smile appeared on her face. There was Jareth, lying in her bed. He was lying on the right side of the bed. The side he had laid on the past two nights. He was laying on his back, his blond hair cascading all around him, on the white pillowcase. He was sleeping soundly, one hand resting on his stomach, the other buried beneath the covers that had fallen to his waist. His chest rose and fell slightly with each breath that he took. He looked so incredibly vulnerable and so beautiful. Sarah stood frozen, letting her eyes run all over him. He was dressed in that loose white shirt again, the pale flesh of his chest exposed for her to stare at. He truly was beautiful, so very unique...and that was what she loved about him.  
  
She smiled before heading to the bathroom to change, wash her face and brush her teeth. She really needed a shower but it could wait until the morning. Although it was still early, only just after nine she was tired and she decided to crawl into bed. She knelt on the bed, the soft mattress sinking under the weight of her knees. She leaned over placing a gentle kiss on Jareth's brow. He stirred very slightly, but did not awaken.  
  
"We'll talk soon, love. Very soon." She kissed him one more time and then she laid down, pulling the covers up over her. She rolled onto her side and felt Jareth roll onto his. His warm breath was suddenly on her neck as he buried his face into her hair. His arms locked around her waist, pulling her against him, her back colliding with his chest. She could feel the warmth of him through the silk of her nightgown and she  
closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of him against her.  
  
It saddened her to think that this would be the last night they could sleep together like this for a while. She was just getting used to it, but there would be no way that the two of them could do this with Ary being home. The little girl sometimes awakened from nightmares and went to visit her mother. Ary had no idea that her mother was in love with the Goblin King again. And Sarah didn't want her to know until she and Jareth had straightened everything out.   
  
Neither Sarah nor Jareth said a word as they snuggled together. They both drifted off to sleep in each others arms content with the knowledge that at this very moment...everything was all right. 


	24. The Tables Have Turned...

AN: Decided that it's time to do some acknowledging. This may be long.   
  
Nicole: Aryanna will be finding out about what her mother feels for Jareth very soon and you will all see her reaction.   
  
Sorceress Morgana: Welcome aboard! Sorry that you had a problem accessing chapter 22. If the problem persists feel free to let me know and I could e-mail you the chapter. I'm glad that you are enjoying the story!  
  
Midnight Lady: I have a funny feeling this chapter may be of some interest to you... : )  
  
Mimea: Thanks!! I'm trying to keep the level of writing the same throughout the entire story. If anyone notices my style has strayed, please tell me!  
  
Althena: Well I'm sure she did feel more, but I've left that up to your imagination hon!  
  
Antoinette: LOL yes they eat a lot of soup, especially lately while they have both been rushing around. With Toby's accident and such, it was quick and easy. I've actually had a bit of a problem with deciding on what Jareth could eat. If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know!  
  
General Sephiroth, Hinotori and Silver Space: thank you for your continued reviews. They keep me smiling.   
  
Addie: I've just turned you into an emotional mess, haven't I? Poor dear. I'm glad that you are enjoying the story though. Your reviews keep me smiling and laughing.   
  
Hooded Crow: I've missed talking to you lately. I see that you've still found time to review and I appreciate that. How goes your story? I've been waiting patiently for more chapters.   
  
Xeli: Thanks! I always look forward to your reviews! Sorry to keep you hanging on the edge of your seat!   
  
CrystalMagic: how goes things with "Sexy"? He still behaving like a good clone?   
  
Anita Knight: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing.   
  
Seraphim of the Dark Moon, Anne-Marie, JupLuna: thank you all for taking the time to review and leave comments. It means a lot to me.   
  
Well I hope that I didn't not forget anyone. Those thanks are from the last two chapters. Hope you enjoy this one. As always please R/R! Thanks!  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own Jareth, Sarah, Toby or the Labyrinth.  
  
  
The tables have turned...  
  
Sarah opened her eyes and turned her head slightly. As she slept she could sense Jareth's eyes focused on her. When she gazed at him, he was indeed staring at her. Propped up on one elbow, resting on his side, gazing at her with those mismatched eyes of his, his blond hair falling softly over his slender shoulders.  
  
She smiled sweetly and stretched her arms. "Good morning." He smiled in return but there was sadness in his eyes. "Is something wrong?" she asked as she reached over to tuck some of his hair behind his ears. He took her hand into his and brought it to his lips placing a soft kiss on her skin. "Jareth?"  
  
He smiled lazily. The sadness still present in his eyes. "We should talk today Sarah." He told her, his voice a whisper.   
  
She said nothing for a moment. She wanted to talk to him, but she had not expected so soon. She knew what she wanted, how she wanted things to go, but now she suddenly felt unsure.  
  
"We should do it today, because if we don't say what needs to be said, it will never happen." She opened her mouth to object and he raised a slender finger to her lips. "You will be going back to work soon, and Ary will be in the house again. When will we have the time to talk?"  
  
"We have at night before we go to bed."  
  
"Yes, when you are tired and aggravated from a long day's work? We should do it and today would be a an ideal time."  
  
She titled her head at him and then nodded. He seemed very persistent about it and she couldn't see any harm in getting out what needed to be said today. "So where should we start?"  
  
"I have no idea." He admitted honestly. His mind was whirling with thoughts and it had been since he has awakened a good hour before Sarah had. He was so afraid of how she would take things. Fear was an alien emotion to him...and right now it was gripping him something fierce.   
  
She smiled sweetly, inching toward him in the bed. "Well we both know that we love each other, right?"  
  
He nodded, sighing deeply, as if he was troubled. She frowned.   
  
"Are you having second thoughts about your feelings for me?"  
  
He shook his head. "Of course not."  
  
"Then what was that about?"  
  
"What?" he asked innocently.   
  
"That big deep sigh."  
  
He sighed again. "Sarah this is not easy for me. I've never sat down and talked my feelings out with someone before. I've told you that I love you and that I have for a very long time, but for me to sit here and plan my future...it's a little difficult for me." He sat up in the bed and pulled her to sit opposite of him. He reached for her hands, resting them on his knee, gently running his bare hands over her soft skin.   
  
"Sarah, you know what I wish. I want to spend forever with you and Aryanna. But there are things that will complicate the wonderful little life we've all been living these past few months."  
  
She frowned. "I...don't understand."  
  
"How is it that you want things to be Sarah? What do you want your future to be like?"  
  
She shifted uncomfortably for a moment before meeting his intense gaze. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to marry you, for you to be the father my little girl never had."  
  
He felt a warmth rise in his heart, but forced himself to ignore it. He could not and would not get his hopes up before everything was out in the open. He squeezed her hands gently. "And where would we live Sarah?" He took a deep breath.  
  
She looked uncertain, very uncomfortable. She knew what she wanted. "We...we could live...here. This house is plenty big for the 3 of us and if we ever decided to expand our family there is a spare bedroom." She looked at him with a hopeful expression on her face, but something within her knew, he couldn't, wouldn't stay in the mortal world with her. He gave her a pained expression. She knew that this world would never accept him.  
  
"Sarah, I can't live here...I've stayed here much longer then I should have." Sarah felt her heart sink into her stomach, her worst fears realized. She lowered her head, unable to look at him. He reached for her chin, beckoning her to gaze into his eyes. "I'm a creature of magic Sarah. I can't live in the mortal world. My magic would wither and die and so would I. And besides that, I have a kingdom to run." The look on his face as he regretfully told her this reminded her of how he looked in their final confrontation 20 years ago. His eyes filled with sorrow, sad desperation.  
  
She wanted to cry and she could feel the tears stinging her eyes. "What are you saying?"  
  
"I'm saying I can't live here. I can't live in this house and live the life you want me to. Have you any idea at all how difficult it has been for me to stay here? To curb my anger, to accept an insult somewhat gracefully and not give into my nature?"  
  
'If it was that much of a burden for you to stay here with me, you could have left anytime you wanted to!" she shot back suddenly. She reacted with anger and it put him on edge.   
  
He tilted his head at her, his long blond hair falling softly over his shoulder. "You are not a burden Sarah. You never have been and you never will be. Staying here with you and Aryanna has been wonderful and I wish it did not have to end." He sighed deeply. "But it does. I can not be who I truly am while I'm here. I can't be the Goblin King and that is who I am. I've had to hide my anger, my arrogance, important pieces of who I am, away."  
  
"Oh so you've been acting this whole time with me and Ary? Pretending to be someone that you're not?" He opened his mouth to speak and she cut him off. "What was this?" She gestured feverishly around them, at the room, at them sitting together on her bed. "Some kind of revenge? Go back to the girl who defeated you when she was at her most vulnerable point, get her to fall in love with you and then leave her?" Her eyes flashed anger and hurt.  
  
"Sarah...I would never...-" He reached for her shoulders and she pulled violently away, totally ignoring the look of hurt that he was etched into his handsome features.  
  
"You miserable son of a bitch! I should have known you would pull something like this!" She was angry and so afraid that this could be the truth, angry that they couldn't keep living how they had been living. She hated change...  
  
Jareth advanced towards her again and she jumped off the bed, moving away from him. His heart felt as if someone was squeezing it painfully.   
  
"How could you sink so low? You even saved my brother! You tucked my little girl into bed and told her bedtime stories!" She wanted to cry, wanted to rush under the covers and cry like she had never cried before. She loved him so much and it was completely possible that everything between them had been a step toward revenge, a lie. That cut her deep.   
  
"Sarah everything I have done I've done for you!" He shouted, wishing that he could have taken the words back as soon as they left his lips. They were an echo of the past, a past that went so terribly wrong and dared to be repeated again unless he made her see the truth.   
  
"Gee where have I heard that before? How original of you!"  
  
"Sarah...I love you. And everything I've done has been done due to my love for you." He told her stepping off the bed, advancing toward her. His voice was desperate, shaky with fear, but thick with truth.  
  
"You don't know what love is!" She cried back, steeling herself against being hurt, being left alone again.  
  
He rushed at her pulling her into his arms. She struggled the entire way but he didn't relinquish his hold. He didn't say anything to her, just held her and looked into her eyes. He let her see how vulnerable he was right now, that he spoke the truth, that he loved her with every fiber of his being. Gazing into her eyes he knew she wanted to cry and that she wanted desperately to believe that he had not deceived her.   
  
"Everything that I have done while I have been here was done because I love you Sarah and because I love Aryanna." He sighed deeply, so afraid of how she might react to his next words. "I want you to return with me Sarah. I want you to be my queen." His voice was soft.   
  
"Go back the Labyrinth?" He nodded. "No way!" She saw the pain flash across his eyes. "Jareth, I can't just leave my life here, my job, my brother! My little girl goes to school here."  
  
"Just as I can't live here Sarah and abandon my kingdom." Sarah felt the tears begin to stream down her cheeks. Toby had warned her about this. He was a King, and he had a kingdom he was responsible for. No matter how much he claimed to love her, his kingdom would come first. He could not abandon it to live here with her, no matter how much she or he wanted to.  
  
"I want more then anything for you to join me, to be my queen. Ary can be a princess, living out her dreams. She can be schooled in the labyrinth, she will have friends there. You won't be bothered by the likes of terrible neighbors, a car that often breaks down. You won't have to worry about paying for your house or for groceries, working hard everyday at your job. The only thing you will have to worry about is what to wear. What to do with your hair each day. How you feel like spending your day..." He gazed at her lovingly, running his fingers through her silky dark locks.   
  
"Jareth I can't just run away from my life." Her voice was soft, the anger gone, even though it still shone in her eyes.  
  
"It wouldn't be running away, but moving, starting something new. A new chapter in your life. Sarah I love you and I never in 600 years expected you to feel the same way. I didn't even expect it when we were reunited and your daughter told me that you once loved me." He peered into her angry eyes. "I know you love me...even though right now you are angry with me and I don't want to lose you." He locked his eyes with hers. "I lost you once, I don't want to lose you again.  
  
"Sarah I have been honest with you and Aryanna. You are the only one I would ever allow to see my vulnerable side. I am not evil. I can be cold, cruel, and arrogant. I have to be those things to run my kingdom, but I don't feel the need to be that way with you. You balance my life. In being here I've I can still be kind, carefree and I will not be thought of as weak if I show that side of myself to the right person." He reached for her hands kissing each of them gently. "If I show that to you..."  
  
"You don't have to make a final decision right now. Just journey with me back to the Labyrinth. I will show you and Aryanna what could be your home should you decide to stay. There are going to be things that you don't like about me Sarah and our relationship will be rocky at times, just as any relationship would be. But I promise you that if you stay with me there will be more good times then bad. That the love, the kindness I've shown you here is genuine and it won't change if we go to my labyrinth." He gently gripped her shoulders.   
  
"Please Sarah...just think about a trip...a look into what could be yours." He locked his eyes with hers.  
  
She matched his gaze, didn't back down. "What would happen if I stayed? I mean what if I wanted to stay but Ary didn't?"  
  
"Sarah I would never separate you from your daughter. I can live with the fact that things didn't work out, if we tried. If things are meant to be, then they will happen. I can not and will not live with the fact that we didn't try at all."  
  
Sarah closed her eyes, knowing she was contemplating the idea, rolling it around in her mind. She loved Jareth with all her heart and Ary seemed to love him.   
  
He had lived with her for a few months in her world, tending to her needs, going at a slow pace because it was what she needed, putting his kingdom on hold for her. There wouldn't be any harm in doing the same for him. He could be the father her little girl needed, and he could be the husband, the lover that she needed and wanted.  
  
"What about Toby? Jareth...." Her last attempt, really the only true reason she could see passing up the Labyrinth. She couldn't leave Toby behind, would not let him become some distant memory while she went off to play Goblin Queen.  
  
"Sarah if you stayed...my magic would be at its full strength and I could send you to visit him any time that you wished. He could visit any time that he wished. I would never keep you from your brother." His eyes reflected to her that he was being completely truthful with her.   
  
She sighed deeply. "All right....I'll go with you back to the Labyrinth...to see how things work out. But we need to talk to Ary first...though I have a good idea that she won't object to the idea of going to the Labyrinth and missing school. I'll figure out something with my work." She reached up hesitantly, playing with his golden mane. " I'd like to give it a chance..."  
  
He felt joy course through him. He knew she was putting forth an incredible amount of trust to consider this. "A chance is all I ask." She nodded and slowly leaned against him, her head resting against his chest. He pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair and then her cheek with the backs of his fingers. He kissed her hair, and held her, not wanting to ever let go.  
  
She knew Ary would be thrilled with the idea of going to the Labyrinth. So she was going back after 20 years. And this time she would not be entering the Labyrinth because she had wished a child away. This time she would not enter as Jareth, the Goblin King's enemy or rival....but as his invited guest, his lover....his possible future queen. My how the tables had turned..... 


	25. What is meant to be, will be...

AN: Hello again my faithful readers. Gosh this story is getting long and there is still much more to write. I thought you all might be interested in this little twist of the story of Sarah and Ary going to the Labyrinth. I haven't been too obvious with how things are going have I? I like to try and keep the surprise and suspense for you all.   
  
I have some devoted readers here. Crystalqueen, sorry that you got grounded. Please just don't get in trouble because of my story! I'd feel terrible! Lostfeyth, I loved the Jareth shaped cookies you sent me last time and I can't bring myself to eat them. They are sooo cute. And hey DB cookies sound good too, although if you really want me to write, someone send me a DB clone, or the man himself!! Maybe I will just drive the 4 hours to NYC and kidnap him! Lol (just joking) Althena: I think Sarah was too overwhelmed with the idea that Jareth wanted to talk things out so quickly. I think she realized that he was feeling well if he wanted to talk and he appeared to be well. Xelia. Sorry this is a day late but "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" Boy is everyone starting to bribe me or what? Jareth and DB shape cookies, Jareth and barn own plushies...goodness! Deesse: Good luck with getting approval to buy a house. How exciting!   
  
On to the story....  
  
Disclaimers: If you're a fan of Labyrinth then you know what I don't own and what I do own...  
  
What is meant to be...will be...  
  
  
Ary looked from her mother to Jareth and back to her mother again. The two adults were sitting at the kitchen table and they had been so very serious from the moment they had picked her up from school. Her mother sighed, resting her chin on her hand, and her elbow on the kitchen table. Jareth gave her a sweet smile and a nod.   
  
"Ary, mommy has to tell you something very important."  
  
The little girl nodded and remained standing quietly, her old well loved teddy bear in hand. It was odd for her to stand so still, so silent, but she stood that way none the less.  
  
Sarah gently reached over to comb back her daughters long dark hair from her eyes. "Ary, remember how you summoned Jareth and you told him something? It was something that you read in the blue book." Ary nodded. "Do you remember what you told him?"  
  
"I told him that he made you happy."  
  
Sarah smiled, and gazed at Jareth who returned a warm smile. Sarah gently took one her daughter's small hands into her own. "And what else did you tell him? Do you remember?"  
  
"He asked me why you were sad and I told him all about my father leaving and the car and the house and..."  
  
Sarah shook her head. "No there was something else you told him. There was something you believed mommy felt for the Goblin King a long time ago. Do you remember what that was?"  
  
Ary thought very hard for a minute and then she nodded. "I told him that you loved him."  
  
Sarah let out a deep breath. Ary didn't seem bothered by that idea in the least. But those words were written about 18 years ago. What would she feel now? "Ary sweetie." Sarah pulled her daughter to her and pulled her into her arms, cradling her like when she was a baby.   
  
"Yes mommy?" She peered up her mother with her large hazel eyes.  
  
"Mommy is in love with the Goblin King again, and it's possible that I never stopped loving him."  
  
Ary's eyes widened. "You love Jareth, mommy?"  
  
Sarah nodded. "Yes, I love him very much."  
  
Ary turned her head to look at Jareth, her hazel eyes focusing on the Goblin King's pale face. "Do you love mommy?"  
  
Jareth nodded immediately, his blond hair falling over his shoulders. "Yes Aryanna. I love your mother. I always have."  
  
The two adults were silent for a moment to let the little girl digest what she had just heard. Ary let her head fall against her mother's shoulder and she fingered her mother's dark hair with her little fingers.   
  
"Does this mean you're going to get married and I can be the flower girl?"  
  
"We don't know sweetie. You see there is something else mommy has to tell you. Do you remember the Labyrinth?"  
  
"That's where Jareth lives."  
  
"That's right. Well Jareth has invited us to stay with him, maybe forever if we like it there."  
  
"Forever?"  
  
"Forever." Jareth injected softly. "There will be many interesting things for you to discover in my Labyrinth Ary. Creatures that your mother has told you about when she tells you bedtime stories."  
  
"Fairies?" Jareth nodded. "Dragons?"  
  
"Yes. My healer is a dragon, well half dragon."  
  
Ary sat up in her mother's arms her eyes wide. "You know a dragon?"  
  
Jareth chuckled softly. "Yes. I know many dragons."  
  
"Mommy can we go, can we go??? I want to meet a dragon!"  
  
Sarah laughed softly. "You want to visit Jareth for a while, to see if you want to live there?" Ary nodded furiously. "We aren't going to go for a few days though ok? Mommy wants to make sure that Toby is going to be ok first."  
  
"Can Toby come with us mommy? I bet he'd like the Labyrinth. He hasn't seen it since he was a baby."  
  
"Toby isn't well enough to visit us, but when he is Jareth said he could visit. Mommy has to tell work that she is going on vacation and I have to call your school and tell them that we're going on vacation. And you can not tell anyone where we are going. Is that understood? If you tell, we won't go. This is a secret."  
  
"Like Jareth is a secret?"  
  
"That's right. Jareth is a secret that you can't tell anyone about and you can't tell anyone about his home or that we are going there. Promise me."  
  
"I promise I won't tell mommy."  
  
Sarah kissed her forehead. "That's my good girl. Now why don't you go downstairs and play with your toys so that mommy and Jareth can talk."  
  
"Ok." Ary wiggled out of her mother's arms and raced to the cellar door swinging it open.  
  
"Don't you run down those stairs!" Sarah called.  
  
Ary walked down them quickly instead. "Lancelot, we're going to the labyrinth!" Sarah heard her cry out at the bottom. She smiled, turning back to Jareth.   
  
"I knew it would be a big hit with her."  
  
Jareth grinned, standing and pulled Sarah into his arms. "And what about you? Do you look forward to going back?"  
  
She rested her head in the crook of his neck and played with the long hair that rested opposite her face. "I have mixed feelings about it. I mean....its been 20 years." She became silent for a moment. "Is...is Hoggle still alive, Ludo, Sir Didymus?"  
  
"I don't know. Other then Sir Didymus, who guards the newly built bridge, I don't know what happened to the others. Hoggle and I had a terrible argument after you left."  
  
"An argument?"  
  
"Yes." He sighed. "He...he didn't, wouldn't believe that I loved you. He didn't think it was possible. I guess I can't blame him for his doubt...I had never loved anyone before you. We argued back and forth on the matter and he returned to the Labyrinth. He's wandering about somewhere I would assume."  
  
"I haven't called him in 20 years. Not since the night I defeated you. I couldn't bring myself to call him, or anyone else for that matter."  
  
"And why was that?" He asked, running his hands through her hair.   
  
"Hoggle said they would be there if I needed them. And I told him that I needed all of them. My friends, even a few goblins came to visit me. Everyone who had been an important part of my journey was there, except for one. He never made an appearance. And if he wouldn't come when I invited all, then I didn't want anyone to visit me." She pulled back, her eyes burning into Jareth's.   
  
"Me?" He seemed surprised by this new information.   
  
She nodded, reaching up to stroke his cheek. "You." She lowered her hand, clutched it to her side. "When you didn't show that night with everyone else, it hurt. Not right away, but after. I felt such a sense of triumph when I first defeated you. But it faded. The older I got, the more I thought of you. I wanted to call you, to see you again, but I thought you would hate me. So I...I never called...for anyone. I wrote everything I felt, everything I remembered down in my diary so if I wanted to look back someday I could. But I had to grow up, so I let it all go. Started dating boys, went out with friends. I started acting like a normal teenager and not the dreamer I used to be."  
  
"Such a pity...I had no idea of your feelings."  
  
She turned in his arms to face him and gaze up into his mismatched eyes that at the moment were filled with warmth and his love for her. She smiled. "No one knew, but me and my diary and that's the way I wanted it to be."  
  
"So you wanted to see me again, even after I made you go through the Labyrinth, after I took your brother?"  
  
She nodded. "Pretty silly, huh? You were the bad guy and I fell head over heels for you."  
  
"You should have called for me. I would have come." Had he known...he would have been there in a heartbeat. She had no idea how many lonely nights he had spent dreaming of her, yearning for her.  
  
"How was I to know that? Like I said, I thought that you hated me and I grew up anyway." She shrugged sadly. He merely gazed at her, his eyes moving over her beautiful face. She suddenly looked like she had the word REGRET stamped all over her face. "And I....I'm so sorry about this morning...I-"  
  
A slender gloved finger touched her lips. "It's the past, forget about it." The subject had been brought up suddenly and he didn't wish for things to go down hill again.   
  
'But the things I said..."  
  
"I've put them behind me."  
  
"You were so wonderful yesterday, helping Toby like you did, putting yourself at such great risk and I...the way I treated you this morning. So unappreciative of you. I'm so sorry."  
  
"Stop it. I told you, it's forgotten and you are forgiven. We all say things we that don't mean, that we wish we could retract. But you showed me that you loved me by accepting my invitation." He pulled her closer to him and tipped her head up toward him so that he could lower his lips to kiss her softly.   
  
He pulled away slowly but she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down to her. His hands landed on her waist and he pulled her closer to him roughly. She shivered at the feel of him against her. He may have a touch of feminine beauty to him, but his lower body was definitely all masculine. She pulled back regretfully, when the kiss had grown too passionate and when she could feel a warmth begin to spread through her. She wasn't about to start making out in her kitchen with the Goblin King while her daughter played with her toys downstairs. There would be time for intimacy later.   
  
Jareth sighed when she pulled back, slightly out of breath from their kiss. He stroked her hair, combing the dark locks through his gloved fingers. "Tomorrow I will leave for the Labyrinth."  
  
Her eyes widened. "You're going to leave so soon?"  
  
He nodded and soothed her with his gentle touch. "With those goblins of mine running loose, I fear my castle may not be ready to accept guests. I just want to make sure that everything is in order for when you and Ary arrive." He kissed her brow. "Besides you can spend the time with Toby. Maybe by Thursday or Friday you would be ready?"  
  
"That seems so far away."   
  
'If we both don't dwell on the time then it will pass by quickly." She nodded and leaned against him.   
  
"I wish you could stay with me tonight." She whispered softly as she clutched the fabric of his shirt into one hand. The other hand was making lazy circles over his exposed chest.   
  
"There will be plenty of time for that at my castle. I could stay with you any night you wished."  
  
She chuckled softly and he gently drew back from her to look at her face.   
  
"What is so amusing?"  
  
"Us."  
  
"What about us?"  
  
"I don't know anyone other then us that has so much will power. We love each other with all that we are and yet we've never been intimate. It is not easy always being in your presence and not being able to follow through with certain things."  
  
"I certainly won't claim that it's been easy, but it's been necessary. I thought that is what you wanted....to wait."  
  
"It was. I wanted to wait until I was sure about things, but the truth is we will never be completely sure about everything." She tugged at the collar of his white shirt. "I know that I love you and that you love me. You care for my daughter and she cares for you. That alone right there I'm sure of and that's all I need to be sure of. The future is uncertain right now, but it will always be uncertain. We will never know what horrible thing or wonderful thing may happen next. I mean look at Toby. He was fine one day and the next fighting for his life."  
  
"What are you trying to tell me Sarah?" He tilted his head, gazing at her through confused eyes.   
  
"I'm telling you that I'm ready to take the next step. I know it's something that can't be planned and it will happen when it's meant to, but I want you to know that you can stop trying to protect us both from giving into each other completely."  
  
"It was you who stopped me a short while ago." He reminded her with a smirk.  
  
"That's because right here and right now were not the correct time or place. My little girl is in the house. When we are alone together, if it happens, it happens and it will be special because it wasn't planned. You can't plan true love no matter how hard you try."  
  
He gazed at her with love in his eyes. "You're certain that you are ready for the next step?" He needed to be sure, because the next time his will power might just disappear all together and he didn't wish for there to be regrets between them. She nodded firmly. "Even before you have decided whether or not you wish to stay with me in the Labyrinth?" he had to double check.  
  
She shook her head. "Jareth...I thought about this all day. I know what I want. It's what I wanted from the moment I realized that I loved you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. It doesn't matter where we live. Here, the Labyrinth. The only place I need and want to be is by your side. But what I want doesn't matter." She admitted sadly. "The decision is Ary's. If she decides that after a week or two that she doesn't want to stay then we leave, even if I don't want to."  
  
Jareth drew a sharp breath. "You wish to stay with me?"  
  
She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, grinning. 'But now that you know that, don't you start bribing my little girl."  
  
"I would never...although it is a tempting idea." He brought a finger to his lips as if he was contemplating how it could be done.  
  
"Jareth?"  
  
"I wouldn't."  
  
" I told you once, that Ary comes first, before you and before me. I love you, but my daughter comes first, just as your kingdom comes first." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Like you said, if it's meant to be, then it will happen."   
  
He placed an innocent kiss on her lips and whispered in a throaty voice. "Than I pray with all that I am that it's meant to be..."  
  
She fell against him, her cheek pressed against the silk of his shirt. "So do I.....so do I." 


	26. Welcome....

AN: hey everyone! I didn't have time to type up all my acknowledgements from last chapter, but let me say thank you all for your continued reviews. You guys are the best! 'Til next time...AKA tomorrow!  
  
Welcome....  
  
Jake was not very happy about Sarah taking a vacation. He was upset enough that he had lost his new favorite secretary during the week that the company was coming, but he couldn't remain upset with her. Her brother had been in a car accident after all and he had heard from other employees that she was very close to her brother. But this new vacation...where the hell was she going that she needed two to possibly four weeks off? What did she plan on doing? Driving to the north pole??   
  
Aryanna's school was a little more understanding but they believed that family vacations should be taken during the summer and not during school. However they had no control over the situation and promised that work would be set aside for Aryanna when she returned to school. Sarah didn't bother to mention that she might not be going back at all. It was too early to know for sure.   
  
"Everything is all set." Sarah said turning to Jareth who had just entered the kitchen. She had just gotten off the phone with Ary's school and before that, her work.  
  
"I hope that I have not ruined things for you here, should you both decide to return." He told her.  
  
"I think that everything will be ok."  
  
"Things did not sound ok when you were talking to your boss." He told her raising one brow.   
  
"Oh....you heard that?"  
  
"Sarah, How could I have not? I may have been in the other room, but I didn't miss the tone of your voice. You sounded upset."  
  
She lowered her head. Jareth missed nothing. "Everything will be fine. You'll see."  
  
"Your boss values you."  
  
"Well he never did before!" Sarah told him throwing her hands up in exasperation. "I was a nobody at work until you came along. You made me happy again and it made me act positive at work. Only after I stuck up for myself with co workers did he give a damn about me. He didn't really notice me before, so he can live with out me for a little while. I deserve a vacation anyway. I never actually take mine every year so as far as I'm concerned the company owes me 4 weeks worth."  
  
"And Ary's school? What did they say?"  
  
"They were very understanding. The secretary thought that now was not a good time to take a vacation but she understood. It does happen that parents take their children out of school for a week or two for a vacation."  
  
"And when will you tell your brother?" Jareth's voice was soft.   
  
"This afternoon when I go to see him. I was going to tell him later in the week, but it would probably be better to tell him now. Let him digest the information for a little while." He nodded slowly. "Um...when are you returning to the Labyrinth?"  
  
"In hurry to get rid of me?" He chided.   
  
"Of course not. You know I wish you could stay here..." She bit her lower lip and he gently pulled her to him.   
  
"I'll be leaving in a few hours. I said my goodbyes to Ary this morning when I brought her to the bus."  
  
"Ah so that was why she gave you a big hug."  
  
"yes. She's very excited about visiting the Labyrinth. I just hope that everything is up to her expectations."  
  
"Well" she told him with a sly grin. "They were certainly up to mine when I was 15, so to an 8 year old she's going to be in heaven."  
  
He smiled sweetly.   
  
They spent the rest of the afternoon snuggling together on the living room couch, touching, kissing and preparing for the dreadful moment when Jareth returned without her. It was before Ary came home that Jareth suddenly rose from the couch, pulling Sarah up with him. She knew it was time.   
  
"Let me know when you are ready to return." He told her, brushing a light kiss along her forehead.  
  
"How?"  
  
"Just call me. I'll hear you." He bent to kiss her softly on the lips and he stepped away, fading away before her eyes. Within a matter of seconds he was gone...just like that. But Sarah didn't cry this time. Instead she smiled, knowing that in a few short days she would see him again.   
  
  
When Ary came home from school Sarah drove her to get a snack at the convenient store before they stopped at the hospital. Cheryl was there with Toby.   
  
"Look at you." Sarah said as she stepped into his room with Aryanna behind her.   
  
"Sarah and it's my favorite niece." Toby said with a bright smile.  
  
"Hi Uncle Toby."  
  
"What cha got there kiddo?"  
  
"Mommy bought me a lollipop at Harry's." She said holding up a large Toosie Roll pop. Toby smiled.  
  
"Gosh Tobe, it's amazing." Sarah told him as she touched his face. The bruises that only yesterday were still an ugly purple, were now nearly nonexistent.   
  
"That's what all the doctor's keep telling me. They don't understand how it's possible for me to be healing so fast but they aren't complaining. They're even going to let me out tomorrow."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yep. They said it was pretty silly for me to stay here when I would be fine at home. I'm still going to be really sore, I can't drive for a while, not that I have anything to drive." He noted sadly. "I have to rest a while longer at home and by next week I can start going out and doing things. Cheryl's going to help me out."  
  
Cheryl smiled sweetly. "How is the Goblin King?" Sarah noticed a little uneasiness in her tone. She still had not come to complete terms with Jareth and his situation.   
  
Sarah smiled nervously. Toby noticed it right away. "Is he ok?" He asked concerned.  
  
She nodded. "Yeah he's fine."  
  
Ary sat down on the corner of Toby's bed, took a big lick of her lollipop and then said. "Mommy and I are going to the Labyrinth to stay with him."  
  
Sarah spun at her daughter. " Ary what did I say about that?"  
  
"I forgot...but Uncle Toby knows about Jareth already."  
  
"You're going to the Labyrinth and you weren't going to tell me?" There was anger in Toby's voice, mised with hurt.   
  
"Of course I was going to tell you Toby. Just not so bluntly."  
  
"Why are you going to his Labyrinth again?" Cheryl asked. "To play with some goblins?"  
  
"No. We're....that is to say...he...I.." She sighed deeply and reached for the remote control by Toby's bed. She turned on some cartoons on the television in the far corner of the room and Ary was immediately engrossed in them. "Toby.....he wants us to visit him.."  
  
" Sar, it's ok if you're just going for a visit."  
  
"But it...it might not be...just a visit."  
  
'I don't follow ya." He told her and Cheryl leaned over the bed to hear the conversation better.   
  
Sarah looked uneasy. "Toby...I love him...a lot."  
  
Toby smiled. 'I know that."  
  
"And as much as I want him to stay here and live at the house...it can't happen."  
  
"Why not?" Cheryl asked. "He's been here the past few months."  
  
"He's a creature of magic and he would lose his magic and he would die if he stayed here. He needs to return home and he's invited me and Ary along to see if we would consider living with him.....permanently."  
  
Toby swallowed. "Permanently?" Sarah nodded slowly.   
  
"Whoa..." Cheryl let out.   
  
"Sarah do you know what you would be giving up if you decided to live with him?"  
  
"Yeah so I wouldn't have to deal with getting up and going to work, a car that breaks down, a nosy neighbor who can't keep her big mouth shut. There won't be plumbing or cable TV...but Jareth would be there...and Ary and I love them both Toby." She sighed and shook her head, her hair cascading down her shoulders. "I haven't made any final decisions." She said softly.   
  
'Sarah, I know you. I remember you telling me about that place when I was a kid and you would get that dreamy look in your eyes. Now you're in love with the King of the place and he loves you....you're going to live there....I know it."  
  
Sarah looked flustered. "I won't lie to you Toby, I do want to live there. It just figures though. I finally find the man of my dreams and he lives...so far away."  
  
"Sarah...Jareth was always the man of your dreams. You just didn't realize it. Adam...." He started cautiously. "Adam was just a stand in...he always was. And I...I just wish he didn't have to hurt you like he did for you to realize that." Toby suddenly looked very nervous. "Sarah...I knew you loved Jareth a long time ago."  
  
Sarah looked startled. "How could have possibly known that Toby? You were a child."  
  
"I...I wasn't a child too much different then your own daughter and I didn't know what privacy was..."  
  
Sarah gasped and covered her mouth. "You read my diary, didn't you?" She looked absolutely horrified. "I swear that everyone has read the damned thing!"  
  
Toby nodded shamefully. " I remember how you used to hide it all the time in your drawer when someone would come in your room and you didn't want them to see what you were writing. I wanted to know what was so important. I didn't understand everything that I was reading...but when Jareth came back into your life I knew before you did that you still loved him. I know you didn't realize it at the time, but he was the man of your dreams, the one that no one else could compare to and you had never even dated him. Sarah I'm really sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner."  
  
Sarah sighed. "It's ok Toby. I wrote those things 18 years ago. But I think you're right."  
  
Toby suddenly reached over to touch his sister's face. "What am I going to do without you? I won't be able to see you or Ary." He looked as if he was going to cry and Sarah felt tears begin to rise in her eyes.   
  
"You'll see me again. Jareth said I could visit you whenever I wanted and you could visit us. But let's not talk about this ok? Ary and I are going for a visit and nothing more right now. Besides, Ary is making the decision after our stay. If she wants to stay, we stay, but if she wants to leave then we return home."  
  
Toby smoothed away a tear that streamed down Sarah's cheek. "You'd leave him, if Ary wanted to leave?"  
  
Sarah nodded. "I love him, Toby, but my little girl comes before me and before Jareth. If Ary is truly unhappy there, than we come home."  
  
Toby nodded. He knew his sister loved her daughter above all else. "When do you leave?"  
  
"Thursday."   
  
"So I assume that Jareth went back to the Labyrinth."  
  
"Yes. He wanted to make sure that everything was perfect for when we arrived."  
  
"He's going to do everything in his power to convince your daughter to stay, you do realize that."  
  
"He told me that he wouldn't."  
  
"And you believed him?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So we can still see each other if you do stay?"  
  
"Toby if Ary decides that she wants to stay, you can still take her every other weekend and we can still go to Eddy's for a night out every so often."  
  
"I think I could live with that. I couldn't just drive over to see you, but we could still hang out every so often. I could definitely live with that."  
  
"Well as I said, no decisions were made yet so nothing is final."  
  
He smiled. "I know."   
  
"Wow...this is all so freaky." Cheryl let out. "But..but a good freaky!" She quickly added. "Could I...visit sometime too?"  
  
"Of course. I umm. I should get going. Need to start packing and all. Could I ask you both a really big favor?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
"Could you watch the house for me? Maybe get my mail and newspaper? You could stay in the house. I just went grocery shopping not too long ago, you can help yourselves to whatever you want. and-"  
  
"We'd love to." It was Cheryl that answered and she gave Sarah a smile.   
  
"Sure we would. I still have my key. The house actually might be a lot better then our cramped apartment for my recovery. Do you still have mom's old exercise bike in the basement?"  
  
"Sure do."  
  
"Cool. I could use that when my muscles aren't so sore."  
  
"Thank you...both of you. I owe you."  
  
"You owe us nothing. Now go on and pack. I'm sure you have a lot to do before Thursday and you don't want to keep your man waiting."  
  
Sarah nodded and bent over to place a kiss on her brother's cheek. "I love you Toby."  
  
He pulled her down to him and hugged her in return. "I love you too sis."  
  
"Ary, come on sweetie. Time to go."  
  
'"Huh?" Ary glanced up from her cartoons.   
  
Sarah smiled. "Time to go home." She jumped up from the floor and rushed to her mother.  
  
"Ok. Bye Uncle Toby and Cheryl." She kissed her uncle.   
  
"Bye Ary. Be a good girl for your mom."  
  
"I always am."  
  
"I know you are."  
  
"Bye Ary." Cheryl called and she watched the little girl wave before she followed her mother out the door of the room.   
  
  
The next few days flew by remarkably fast. Sarah was too busy making sure that everything was taken care of at home. She and Ary packed some of their favorite clothes as well as Ary's favorite toys so that she would feel more at home.   
  
It was finally Thursday morning. Sarah and Ary awakened early. Both very excited. Sarah was nervous as but she didn't let that on to her daughter. After a light breakfast and a quick note to Toby laid out on the counter they were ready.   
  
"Jareth?" Sarah called. "We're ready." They waited. Ary squeezed her mother's hand in anticipation. For several moments nothing happened. "Jareth?" Sarah called again.   
  
And then there he was. Dressed regally in black, standing tall and dominant. His blond hair drifting around him in the wind that followed him. The scent of the Labyrinth was all around him. His expression was slightly cold but it softened when his eyes focused on Sarah. His beautiful Sarah was holding her daughter's hand. They each had a suitcase by their feet, Ary's slightly smaller then her mothers. The little girl held her faded teddy bear in her other hand.   
  
Jareth moved across the room and was by their side in a few steps. "You're both ready?"  
  
Sarah nodded and Ary followed her lead, nodding as well. Jareth smiled and drew a crystal from thin air. He used his magic so rarely while he stayed with them in the house that to Sarah it made him seem distant and not the man she knew so well. While he had stayed with them, she sometimes forgot that he was the Goblin King. She ignored the worried feeling she got as best as she could. She would accept Jareth as he was, a Goblin King, but also a man.   
  
A light and a warmth surrounded them and a few moments later they were standing on a hill. Glitter sparkled in the trees that sported no leaves. And spread out before them was a maze. The most incredible maze one would ever see and in the distance, a small city and a large castle on a hill.   
  
Jareth was standing, his back to his guests as he looked at his surroundings. He finally turned and gazed at the two amazed expressions that stared back at him.   
  
"Ladies..." He said with a formal bow. "Welcome to my Labyrinth." 


	27. A small tour of the castle beyond the Go...

AN: Hi everyone. Wanted to get this out today before I went to work, so no acknowledgements and it hasn't been edited yet. I'll edit it when I get in from work tonight and will repost the chapter. Enjoy!  
  
A small tour of the castle beyond the Goblin City...  
  
Jareth smiled at their reactions. The slight intake of breath by a woman, once a child who had entered his domain so many years before. The wide eyes of her 8 year old daughter as she gazed at his land for the first time in her life.   
  
"It's...it's so different." Sarah remarked softly.   
  
Jareth beamed proudly, his hands clasped behind his back, his cape and hair drifting around him in the wind. It was indeed very different from when Sarah was last here. The castle that before looked a dirty beige now sparkled white. The Labyrinth itself looked full of life, many new trees had grown in and the walls looked polished. "I had a great deal of spare time to change things while you've been away Sarah." He looked sad for a moment and she understood instantly what he was referring to.  
  
"No one else has...?"  
  
He shook his head. "You were the last." She gave him a surprised expression. "Not many believe that the story is true. Some read the book, still recite certain lines, but never the right ones, and there is never any feeling behind the words."  
  
"I was the last...." She allowed softly.   
  
"Best to be defeated at the end if I had to be defeated at all."  
  
"At the end?"  
  
"Yes, by the last one to enter." She nodded slowly.   
  
"Mommy look! There's a city. Is that the Goblin City?"  
  
"Yes Ary. That's the Goblin City, although it looks so different from here."  
  
"I'm sure you will find that it is much different while within the city walls as well."  
  
"I don't even see the junk pile." Sarah said as she put a hand over her eyes trying to get a better look.   
  
"That's because it no longer exists. I let the Labyrinth grow too wild and I gave the goblins too much freedom. I let them do what they wanted, even let them make a mess of my throne room. That's all changed."  
  
Jareth inched towards Sarah and one gloved hand raised to caress her face. "I can't believe that you are finally here." He whispered softly. A warmth shone in his eyes and Sarah couldn't help but smile in return.   
  
"I'm glad to be back." She told him softly. He grinned and lowered his lips to hers in a soft kiss.   
  
"Ewwwww!" Ary cried out and Jareth pulled back quickly, looking startled. For a moment he had forgotten about the little girl. She had yet to see himself or Sarah show any affection to each other. Jareth raised an eyebrow at the child who stood with a disgusted look on her face. "Are you guys going to do that all the time?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.   
  
Sarah blushed and Jareth grinned. "Do what?" he teased.  
  
"Kiss. Are you going to be all mushy like the movies mommy likes to watch?"  
  
Sarah blushed further, her face now bright red. Jareth chuckled at her embarrassment. "We won't do it in front of you if it bothers you." Sarah told her. And Ary nodded.   
  
Sarah gazed down at the maze spread out before them. "Please don't tell me that we have to find our way through the labyrinth to get to your castle."  
  
Jareth grinned. "Not this time. In fact I would prefer that neither of you traveled into the labyrinth unaccompanied. It may appear harmless but there are still many dangers and I won't have either one of you lost or injured. I will not ask much of either of you, but please do not go into the labyrinth alone. And if you wish to travel it, only an experienced guide will do, preferably myself."  
  
"That's not a problem for me. Ary do you understand?"  
  
"Yes mommy. No going into the labyrinth without Jareth or someone who knows the way."  
  
"Good girl." Jareth told her. "Now I have rooms prepared in the castle and there is someone who I believe Ary will be interested in meeting." Ary grinned happily and rushed to Jareth taking one hand into her own.   
  
"Let's go! Let's go!" She chanted.   
  
Jareth chuckled. "All right." He pulled a crystal from the air and threw it to the ground where it shattered and a brilliant light touched the three. Seconds later the hill was empty.   
  
They reappeared in a hallway. Finely embroided tapestries hung from the ceilings to the floors, white candles with golden bases were lit giving a soft warm glow in darkened corners. The sun shone though stained glass windows that had different landscapes from the labyrinth and made colored patterns on the wine colored oriental like rug with golden tassels along the sides. If the halls were this nice, Sarah could imagine how beautiful the rooms were.  
  
The sound of someone approaching made the small group turn. Sarah gasped at what turned the corner and Ary squeezed Jareth's hand, which she still held, tightly.   
  
A dragon, dressed in a simple dress, wide yellow eyes, scales that changed from green to blue in the sunlight. Long clawed hands with 3 fingers and a thumb on each hand. The dragon bowed gracefully before Jareth who gave her a curt nod.   
  
"Sarah, Aryanna, may I introduce my healer and also very reliable friend, Megmora."  
  
"He-hello." Sarah greeted softly. Megmora nodded and bowed her head slightly.   
  
"Lady Sssarah, it is an honor to finally meet you."  
  
"Likewise." Sarah told her with a smile and a nod.   
  
Megmora's eyes fell upon Ary. The little girl had inched closer to the Goblin King and held his gloved hand tightly within her own. Megmora studied the little girl, who seemed to put complete trust in the insolent King that stood beside her. Megmora flicked her long forked tongue and regarded the child who had yet to make a sound.   
  
And then suddenly the child stepped forward and extended on small hand. Megmora regarded the child. She was brave for one from the mortal world. "I'm Aryanna." She said loudly, clearly.   
  
Megmora's eyes drifted to her King who stood tall, and proud. His stance was arrogant, dominant, but his eyes held a warmth that the dragon had rarely seen. He loved this child, just as she loved the child's mother. He nodded to Megmora who after a few moments gently shook the child's hand. "You are very brave child." Megmora told her. Ary smiled sweetly and lowered her hand, returning to Jareth's side.  
  
"Megmora will help you with anything you need, Ary." Megmora nodded to her King's statement and remembered their conversation from only two days before.   
  
"I ask that you attend Aryanna with whatever she needs." Jareth had told her.   
  
Her already large yellow eyes widened further. "Your Majessssty I am a healer not a babyssssiter." She had told him.  
  
"This is not a request." His tone had been firm. "She is a sweet child, just attend her, even if it is only for the first day or two."  
  
"Very well. I ssshall do it." She told him, her voice full of annoyance.  
  
Now gazing at the child, Megmora didn't believe that helping the child adjust would be so bad. The Goblin King, normally a harsh, cold man saw something in this child, she might as well.  
  
"Now, I shall show you both to your rooms. If you'll follow me this way." Sarah nodded and stepped beside Jareth. Aryanna reached for the Goblin King's hand and followed the adults.   
  
They walked a short way and Jareth opened the large oak door of a room. "This will be Ary's room."  
  
Ary rushed in and gasped. The room was huge. A large canopy bed with pale peach blankets was in the center. Lancelot was sitting on top of all the pillows. There were large windows with pale peach curtains that hung over them. There were bureaus and a huge open closet filled with dresses and other clothes.   
  
"What's in that room?" Ary asked pointing toward a closed door towards the back.  
  
"Just a small surprise. Go on and see."  
  
Ary didn't have to be told twice and she ran across the room to the door. It was a heavy oak door and she opened it slowly and gasped. "Oh my goodness!" she cried out.   
  
"What is it sweetie?" Sarah asked.   
  
"My very own playroom! And it's so big!"   
  
Sarah crossed the room and peered in. The playroom was indeed large. Furnished with finely made toys and dolls. There was a table with a tea set all set up and ready to play with. There were blocks and small chests filled to the brim with toys and games.   
  
"Well someone won't need to worry about being bored. Who needs cartoons when you can have a playroom like this."  
  
"Can I stay here and play for a little while mommy? Please?? Pretty please?"   
  
Sarah smiled. "How can I resist that face?" Jareth was suddenly beside her and she glanced up at him. "Would that be ok if she stayed here?"  
  
"Of course. It is her room afterall."  
  
"I will ssstay and watch her." Sarah turned to see Megmora.   
  
"Are you sure?" The dragon nodded.   
  
"Well that settles that. Megmora will stay here with Ary and I will show you where you will be sleeping." Sarah nodded.   
  
"Megmora, come have tea with me!" Ary squealed excitedly. The dragon let out a small sigh.   
  
"Thank you." Sarah whispered to her and she gently placed a hand on the dragons shoulder. Megmora bowed and entered the playroom.  
  
As Sarah stepped along side of Jareth to walk down the hall she could hear the sound of Aryanna joyfully setting up the tea party and she could have sworn she heard Megmora joining in and actually laughing. Jareth took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the skin.   
  
"I thought I said no bribing my daughter?" She told him, her tone firm but her eyes betraying her joy.  
  
"It wasn't bribery love. If she remains that room will be hers. It was mine when I was a child." He stopped and turned to face her in the deserted hall. "She is the closest thing to a child of my own. I will tend her needs, but without spoiling her."  
  
"Thank you." She whispered softly. He nodded and they continued their walk. He lead them up into what looked like a completely different wing of the castle. "My room will be so far from Ary's." She noted softly as they walked up the steps to another hall.  
  
"The walk is not too far. Besides, I didn't have any spare rooms that would suitable for you near her."  
  
"Jareth, a small room with a bed would be more then adequate. I made you sleep on my couch for weeks before I gave you a real room."  
  
He stopped and leaned over to kiss her neck. "And it was the most comfortable couch I have ever slept on." He grinned. She slapped him playfully away as he nipped her with his sharp teeth. She noticed that they were no longer walking and she turned to face two giant oak doors, with gold hinges and gold handles. Jareth smiled as he opened the doors. "And this my lady, is your room..." he bowed and stepped away into the room.   
  
Sarah walked in slowly, her eyes wide with awe. Never in her life had she seen anything so beautiful. The first thing that caught her attention was the fountain in one corner. Two rearing white marble unicorns were at the top and the water trickled from a butterfly shaped faucet. The water collected in a large leaf. There were flowers growing all around the fountain. It was if there was a garden in her room! There were furnishings similar to Ary's room. A canopy bed, but this one was almost twice as big as Ary's large bed. It was draped with cream colored sheets, blankets and pillows. The bureaus were made of finely polished cherry oak with sculptured gold trim. The floor was white marble and polished so clean you could probably eat off of it. There was a walk in closet, twice or three times the size of Ary's with dresses in every color and shade imaginable. Sarah could only stare at it all in complete and utter amazement.   
  
Jareth's breath was suddenly on her neck as he dipped to kiss her soft skin. "Is it adequate enough for you?"  
  
"God Jareth....it's...it's almost too much. I don't deserve all this."  
  
"Nonsense." He kissed her neck again. "This room is fit for a queen...."  
  
She spun to face him. "Jareth..."  
  
"Ssshhh."   
  
"Fit for a queen..." she whispered softly. She chuckled as his lips sought out the flesh of her neck once again. "I can imagine what your room looks like.."  
  
He pulled back and smiled and gently took her hand into his as he lead her across the room. He stopped in front of a door and with a wave of his hand it opened. They stepped through into a room equally as magnificent as her own. Only this one seemed more masculine. Statues of dragons instead of horses, black sheets, carvings on the bureaus.   
  
"Welcome to my chambers, my lady." He smiled seductively.   
  
Sarah returned his smile and leaned in closer to him. She reached up placing a kiss on his lips. He returned the kiss, all the while, stepping back slowly towards his bed..... 


	28. Completion....

AN: I'm sorry I didn't have time for a chapter edit last night. I was very tried from work. Forgive me! I believe that many of you will enjoy this chapter (I hope!) I have a lot of acknowledgments to type up and I'm sure you would rather read the next chapter earlier. I'll try to have those acknowledgements posted next chapter or re-posted with this chapter. As always please keep those reviews coming. And no this is not the last chapter, despite the title...  
  
Those underage, be warned that you should go play somewhere else for this chapter.   
  
Without further a do.....  
  
Completion...  
  
They were less then two feet near his bed when a loud knock at the door halted them both. Jareth growled and let his head fall into Sarah's hair. She smoothed his hair with her hands, her heart beating wildly in her chest when she thought about what they might have just started doing.   
  
"It wasn't the right time..." was all she said softly. He pulled back and nodded giving her one last quick kiss before moving to the door. Sarah was right and he wanted their joining to be perfect. He had an idea when the right moment might be although he would never push her.  
  
As he moved to the door he wondered who had the audacity to bother him in his private chambers and while he was with a lady no less. He swung the door open and stared down at a nervous little goblin who was trembling before him. His helmet was too big for his head and it hung over his beady little eyes.  
  
"What is it?" Jareth barked.   
  
"Sire....forgive me, but the Lady Megmora...the mortal child is hungry...and she sent me."  
  
"I'll take care of it...return to your post." The goblin nodded and was gone before Jareth could draw another breath.   
  
"You were a little harsh with him Jareth. Don't kill the messenger." Sarah laughed lightly.  
  
Jareth turned to her, his stance a little rigid, his facial expression a little too cold. Sarah's smile faded. "You must be harsh with them Sarah or you don't get through to their thick little skulls." He turned to the window. "Dinner will be in a short while. I'll ask Ary if she can manage to wait until then. If not I'll have a small snack brought to her. You might want to change."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Change? I hardly believe that you would like to attend a ball dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. You might get a few harsh stares."  
  
"Did you say a ball?" He mouth dropped.   
  
He smiled devilishly. "Yes a ball held in honor of you and Aryanna's arrival into my Kingdom."  
  
'Jareth, you really didn't have to go through all of this trouble." She shook her head, her long dark hair moving around her.   
  
"It was no trouble Sarah and besides it is custom. News of your arrival has spread like wildfire through the Underground. It is only fair that the people are able to see you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Jareth sighed. "It is custom for me to "show off" if you will, my lady which in this case means you." He grinned revealing his pointed teeth.  
  
Sarah blushed and Jareth smiled. "Show me off, eh?"  
  
'Of course, showing you proudly to my people and the monarchs of other kingdoms is something I have looked forward to for years, though until recently I never believed it would happen."  
  
Sarah swallowed. "What do...what do these other people believe that I am to you?"  
  
"My lady, someone who I have high regard for." He told her, tugging at his gloves.   
  
One brow rose on her forehead. "And nothing else?" There was disappointment in her voice.   
  
"What does it matter what they believe?"  
  
"I...was just curious..."  
  
He closed the distance between them and took her hands into his. "It is my honor, my privilege and my right to show a woman who means something to me." He kissed her hands. "No one will truly understand the magnitude of my feelings for you...royal marriages usually are not based on love. In fact it's rare. Most marriages are arranged. I am fortunate to be at liberty to marry or court who I see fit. You are the only one in all of my life that I have seen fit, and equal to myself. No doubt my people and the other nobles will realize this. I've never presented anyone before." He leaned closer to her, closing the gap between them further. "You are first and I hope the only that I will ever present."   
  
Sarah nodded, suddenly feeling as if weight had been added to her shoulders. She had grown somewhat shy over the years and the idea of being presented and someday possibly becoming a queen if she stayed here frightened her. "When is this ball, tonight?"  
  
He nodded. "It grows later. We should all dress and prepare. I will send one of the ladies to help you dress and prepare for the festivities scheduled later in the evening. We should eat after we have prepared and then the ball will begin. I warn you that we may be leaving early. The other nobles tend to get drunk fairly quickly and seeing as neither you nor I drink..."  
  
"You don't drink?" She flashed him a look of surprise.  
  
"Surprising isn't it? I never grew a liking to the stuff. I think coffee would taste better to me then alcohol."  
  
"And I know just how much you love coffee." She teased.   
  
He chuckled softly. "You should start getting ready. A lady will fill a bath for you and prepare your dress. The same will be done for Ary as well. While you get ready I will explain to her about the ball and that we will dine before we attend the celebrations."  
  
"Ok. Thank you."  
  
Jareth kissed her softly on the lips. "You're welcome. I will see you later." She nodded to this and stepped through the door that connected their rooms, closing it behind her. Being here was already a little overwhelming and the thought of being presented to so many people frightened her slightly. Yet the thought of dancing with Jareth seemed to make up for it.   
  
Not less then a few minutes later there was a knock at the door and a young girl entered without a word, only a formal bow and she immediately prepared a bath. Sarah sighed as she stepped into it a few moments later. She sank into the hot bubbly water and dreamed of dancing within the arms of the Goblin King.   
  
Sarah dried herself after her bath with a large soft towel and began to dress. The dress was a pale green and made of a soft silky material. It was low cut and form fitting at the waist while it flared out on the bottom, fading to different shades of green. The girl immediately reached for the tiny clasps on the back of the dress and clasped them. She gestured to Sarah to sit, which she did at a small cushioned seat at a vanity. The girl set to the task of combing Sarah's long hair and using pins with pearls at the ends of them, pinned up her hair elegantly. She then applied makeup to Sarah's face and gestured for her to select a perfume to wear. Sarah sniffed each of the tiny bottles lines up on the vanity and settled for a sweet smelling perfume that reminded her of lilacs.   
  
Finished at last, Sarah gazed at herself in the mirror. High heel green shoes made the outfit complete along with a sash that was faded green like the skirt of the dress. Sarah could not believe how she looked.....She looked like a queen...  
  
Another young woman escorted her down a hallway and she and her daughter arrived at two large doors at the same time. Ary was dressed in pale peach, her hair half up. She looked like a princess.   
  
"Mommy, you look so beautiful." She smiled.   
  
Sarah bent to kiss her cheek. "So do you sweetie. Did you have fun playing tea with Megmora?"  
  
Her daughter opened her mouth to answer but the doors suddenly creaked open and Sarah rose, her eyes meeting Jareth's figure as soon as they were fully open. He stood on the opposite side, just inside the room. Sarah grinned when she saw him. He was dressed in a dark green frock coat that seemed to sparkle in the light. Beneath it was a cream colored silk shirt that rose halfway up his neck and with ties at the bottom of his neck. It was a shirt not too different from the one he wore with his blue frock coat. He wore his usual black leggings that clung to his legs and allowed her to see every single detail of his form. She dropped her eyes lower quickly to notice his black knee high boots when she felt her cheeks begin to warm.   
  
Jareth stepped forward his eyes had not wavered from her form once. He forced himself to breathe. Never in his life had he seen a sight more beautiful then the site that stood before him. He stepped forward slowly and reached for Sarah's hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss it softly. "You look beautiful." He purred softly.   
  
Sarah grinned shyly and lowered her eyes from his for a moment. "You don't look too bad yourself." She teased and he grinned.   
  
"And you!" Jareth dropped to one knee to have a better look at Aryanna. "I don't believe I've seen a prettier young girl in all of the Underground." Ary stepped forward and hugged him tightly. He squeezed her slightly and then stood, first offering his arm to Sarah and then his other arm to Ary. Sarah put her arm through his and Ary being a little too short to comfortably reach his arm, took his hand. The trio walked forward slowly to a huge table covered with many different foods.   
  
"This is how we shall enter tonight." He told them softly.   
  
  
They glided down the grand staircase as if they had wings. Ary could hardly contain herself as she saw all the people gathered at the bottom of the stairs. They were dressed in fancy dresses and costumes. It was like a big Halloween party and it wasn't even Halloween! The ballroom was incredible. It reminded Sarah someone what of the crystal ballroom that she had Jareth had danced in so long ago. Chandlers hung from the ceiling with flickering candles. White cloth was draped from large marble pillars that lined the sides of the room. There were people everywhere, wearing every color of clothing imaginable. The site of it all was breathtaking.  
  
As they reached the middle of the stairs Jareth stopped and lifted his head, acknowledging the people below. His stance had been rigid, kingly so far and by lifting his chin defiantly he reminded Sarah of the insolent King she remembered from the past. She knew it was necessary for him to act out his part in front of so many people.   
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for attending this special occasion." He said loudly and clearly. "As it is custom by law and as it is my honor and privilege, I present to you Lady Sarah." He tipped his head toward Sarah who curtsied as she had been told to do. "And the Lady Aryanna." He gestured to Ary who bowed slowly as her mother had done. There was a great applause as well as a few confused stares as a few guests stared at Aryanna. Kings rarely took on ladies who already had children. Of course Jareth was always the exception to the rule with his wild, lone wolf like style. Some guests already believed the child was his, a well-kept secret. She looked like her mother but she was slender with pale skin and could easily be his child. The rumors were beginning to fly before they even proceeded to the bottom of the stairs.   
  
There were small foods to snack on, cheeses, crackers, grapes, wines and different fruit punches. Having already eaten only an hour before the ball, Sarah, Ary and Jareth steered clear of the table filled with food. Ary clutched Jareth's hand tightly and stayed by his and her mother's side for most of the evening. When the dancing began Megmora suddenly appeared, dressed elegantly in a lavender dress and she ushered the little girl away from the adults. There were other children that she could play with in a different room and she fit right in with them right away. She danced wildly with two little girls who appeared to be twins and she felt as if she had known them all her life when they found they had much in common. The girls loved to play teatime and each had a favorite special toy as she did.   
  
The guests had plagued Jareth and Sarah all night. Everyone wanted to gaze at Sarah, to see whom after all these years the King of the Goblins had chosen to present. Sarah smiled graciously to every compliment she received and not once let go of Jareth's arm. She smiled to herself when she felt him lean closer to her protectively more then once throughout the evening.   
  
The dancing had begun and it was the only time of the night where no one would dare approach them. Jareth bowed before Sarah. "May I have this dance milady?"   
  
She grinned and nodded a bright smile across her face. She didn't feel as if she were 35. She felt like she was 15 again as he swept her into his arms and twirled her across the dance floor. He twirled her wildly and for the first time that night Sarah saw a piece of the man she remembered so well from his stay with her. He was grinning and his throaty laugh filled her ears. Gone was the arrogant Goblin King and in his place was the carefree man she had grown to love.  
  
The music was wonderful, harps, pan flutes, Celtic-sounding whistles, violins. It was all very romantic. Especially with the candles that gave a soft warm light throughout the room.  
  
Less then an hour after they had begun dancing, Megmora appeared with Aryanna cradled in her arms.   
  
'Forgiving my intrusssion, my lord." She bowed before Jareth and nodded to Sarah. "The child issss tired. I thought I would bring her to bed."  
  
"She'll want me to tuck her in." Sarah said right away.  
  
"We shall both tuck her in." Jareth told her and he gestured for Megmora to place the sleepy child in his arms. She did so and Ary buried her face in Jareth's shoulder. "If anyone is looking for us, tell them that we've retired for the evening. Have the squire make the announcement after we have been gone a few minutes.   
  
"Yesss your highnesss." Megmora bowed.   
  
"Thank you for looking after Ary." Sarah told her with a smile.   
  
"It wasss my pleasssure." She bowed before Sarah.   
  
They were of course caught by a few of the guests on the way out who saw the King leaving and wished to bid him goodnight, but once they were out in the hallway, Sarah felt herself breathe for the first time that night. They were away from prying eyes of others and could act as they saw fit. They walked quietly to Ary's room. Sarah pulled down the sheets of the bed and Jareth placed Ary down on the soft mattress. He snapped his fingers and in the blink of an eye the little girl was dressed in a silky pink nightgown. Sarah smiled at Jareth and he pulled the blankets over the child.   
  
Ary was so tired that she had already fallen asleep, her favorite bear to her face.  
  
"So much for a bedtime story. The poor kid is exhausted." Sarah said as she and Jareth crept quietly out of the room.  
  
"She must have enjoyed playing with the other children. I'm sure she will tell us about it in the morning."  
  
"Other children? But I didn't see any other children there?" As far as she knew, Ary had been the only child in attendance.  
  
Jareth smiled sweetly. They were in one of the other rooms. All the children of the guests stay together and are watched by a few adults. They have dancing and their own games to keep them occupied while the adults enjoy themselves."  
  
"Boy you thought of everything didn't you?"  
  
"I can't claim the credit, it's something that has been done at balls even before my time." She smiled warmly as they stood outside Ary's door. "Sarah...there is something I want to show you."   
  
Sarah blinked and a moment later she and Jareth were no longer in the hallway but suddenly on a balcony that overlooked the labyrinth. She smiled as she leaned over the stone railing and gazed out into the night. She had not realized what a wonderful night it had turned out to be. After being pampered and eating dinner they had gone straight to the ball. She had not noticed that the sun had set and that it had been night for a few hours now.   
  
The labyrinth was beautiful at night. The moon was full and so bright that she could see for miles. The stone walls sparkled in the pale moonlight. The Goblin City below was full of activity. She could see candles flickering in windowsills of houses no longer broken down. She could hear the laughter and music in the distance of the ball which still went on in a different part of the castle.   
  
"Was it all right that we left so early? I mean your guests..."  
  
"They know their way home." He smiled and he put an arm around her. "Did you have a good time tonight?"  
  
She nodded. "I think my favorite part was the dancing."  
  
He grinned once again showing his pointed teeth. "That was my favorite as well." She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder.   
  
"I wonder how Toby is doing." She said suddenly.   
  
"Would you like to see him?" he offered.  
  
"Yes, but how?"  
  
He pulled a crystal ball from thin air and placed it in the palm of her hand. "Gaze into it and you will see him."  
  
She picked the crystal up so that it was even with her eyes and she looked into it. An image appeared of Toby laying on her living room couch with Cheryl curled against his chest. They were both sleeping and she could see the flash of the TV in the background, left on after they had fallen asleep. She smiled. "He seems to be ok." She handed the crystal back to him and he made it disappear. She leaned against him once more and she felt him touch her hair.   
  
"I was very proud of you and Ary tonight Sarah. I know that traveling here and suddenly being forced to show yourself to a room full of strangers was not an easy task."  
  
She glanced up at him. "It wasn't easy, but it wasn't hard either. I had you beside me all night so I had nothing to worry about."   
  
He smiled and gazed at her, letting his love for her shine through his eyes. She returned his gaze, her love for him reflected back at him. She turned in his arms, to face him and she reached up to touch his pale face. He looked so handsome in the moonlight, his blond hair nearly white, his skin as pale as fine porcelain. She wrapped her arms around his neck and for a moment they just gazed at each other. His mismatched eyes searched her face. She looked at peace in his arms. He saw something as his eyes locked with hers. Passion...it's fires burning within her hazel depths. He felt his heart beating wildly in his chest.   
  
He lowered his face to hers slowly and kissed her softly. She returned the kiss and he deepened it, his mouth moving over her mouth, his tongue dancing with hers. He felt her hands clutch the fabric of his coat collar and his hands moved to her waist to pull her closer to him. He broke their fevered kiss to take a quick breath and he immediately returned his lips to hers. Then his lips left her mouth and he kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose and then trailed soft kisses down her throat and the side of her neck. She tilted her head back and let out soft gasps of pleasure. He felt a fire begin to burn deeply within him. He continued to kiss the soft skin of her neck and he suddenly felt her fingers trying to slip his coat away from his shoulders. He pulled back slightly to gaze into her eyes, to be sure that she wanted this, that she knew what would happen if they continued.   
  
She knew...her eyes were filled with love and passion for him and he nearly stumbled as he pulled her from the balcony and into his chambers, away from anyone who might see them.   
  
He trembled as she undid the two buttons that held his frock coat together. She slowly eased the velvet coat over his shoulders and it fell to the floor. She reached for the ties of his shirt collar and tugged at them gently. His hands covered hers and he helped her untie the shirt. She pulled the shirt from his pants and ran her hands up under the shirt and over his warm skin. He groaned softly and let his head fall forward into her hair as she touched him gently, slowly, caressing his chest. Instinctively one hand cupped her breast and he felt her melt into his touch. Yet she still wanted to touch him and he wanted nothing more then to oblige her.   
  
His hands went to the bottom of his shirt and he pulled it over his head quickly, letting it fall to the ground. Her eyes looked over him as if seeing him for the first time. She had seen him before, when he was sick, her eyes had greedily taken in his form, but here in the soft moonlight he looked different. He looked like some kind of angel. His blond hair fell softly over his shoulders and she brushed it back and away. He reached out slowly with his hands to the back of her dress, his fingers grazing over the clasps that held the dress together. She turned so that he had easier access and he fumbled with the clasps, his trembling hands moving slowly as he tried to concentrate on the task of undoing them. When the last clasp was undone he turned her to face him and gently allowed his hands to peal the dress away from one shoulder.   
  
He lowered his lips to the exposed shoulder and trailed kisses along the skin. His mouth followed his hands as he lowered the silky fabric from her. He did the same to the other shoulder as well, revealing her smooth skin with his hands and then kissing it softly with his lips. Sarah trembled at his gentle touch, her head falling back.   
  
He had the bodice of the dress lowered to the top of her breasts and he stopped. She picked up her head to gaze at him, her eyes questioning him as to why he had stopped. He suddenly scooped her up into his arms and she laughed wildly, throwing her arms around his neck. He kissed her and moved slowly to his bed, lowering her gently onto the soft, black, silk sheets. It was dark on this side of the room, as they were away from the pale light of the moon. He glanced at a nearby table and it suddenly had 4 flickering candles on its surface. The warm light was just enough light for them to see each other, to discover each other. He pulled his boots from his feet and left them at the side of the bed as he crawled onto the mattress, lifting one leg over her to kneel over her form.   
  
He reached for the pins in her hair and watched as her dark locks cascaded down her bare shoulders. He smiled seductively and lowered his lips to hers, while his hands slowly pulled the bodice of her dress down her body. He pulled away and sat back, pulling the dress down her slender legs and off her all together. He let the beautiful dress fall to the floor, it became as forgotten as his frock coat and silk shirt on the other side of the room.  
  
He sat for a moment, his eyes drinking in the sight of her nearly naked form. Only the pale green silk panties she wore kept his eyes from seeing all of her. He pulled his gloves from his hands and snaked forward. He reached for her breasts as he fell forward, his mouth seeking hers. She moaned into his mouth as he stroked the soft mountains on her chest that yielded and responded to the touch of his hands.   
  
He trailed kisses down her neck and took one breast into his mouth his hand moving to the other breast as his tongue swirled around her taunt nipple. She groaned and squirmed beneath him, her hands reaching desperately to touch him. She squeezed his shoulders as he suckled her like a child would. His mouth moved to the other breast giving it the same tortuous pleasure. His lips moved to hers once more and she slid her hands down his chest as they fought for dominance with their tongues. He groaned into her mouth as she slid one hand down his abdomen and gently brushed his erection through the fabric of his pants. His hips jerked instinctively for her to touch him and she did, running a finger along the length of him through the fabric. He pulled his lips from her and threw his head back letting out a low throaty groan. She smiled at his reaction and she reached for the waistband of his pants. He lifted himself so that she could reach easier and she slowly and gently pulled the fabric over his hips. Her eyes focused on his erection, a finely molded piece of nature, created by his passion for her. She pulled the pants down further and he helped her pull them off him all together.   
  
She reached out to touch him and he jerked his hips away.  
  
"Stop..." he commanded. She looked up at him. He reached for her hand and put it by her side. "There is something I have to do first..." he lowered one hand to her stomach and she felt a warmth fill her.   
  
"What...what are you doing??"  
  
He moved his hand away and he lowered his lips to hers for a quick kiss. "Protecting you..." he whispered. "There will be no children conceived tonight..."  
  
She didn't know how to react. She was so caught up her passion and love for him she had not even thought about the possibility that if they went all the way that she could have become pregnant.   
  
She smiled up at him and his thoughtfulness and reached up to bury one hand in his soft blond hair, her eyes full of her appreciation. His hands reached for the silk panties she still wore and he removed them slowly. He kissed her stomach and trailed kisses up her abdomen, between her breasts, up her neck and finally to her lips. She pulled him down closer to her and she allowed one hand to move slowly down between them to touch the length of what made him a man. He closed his eyes tightly, letting his head fall into her neck as she trailed her fingers over him gently. His hips moved involuntarily and began to find a rhythm with the movement of her fingers. His lips sought out hers and he moved her hand away from him, parting her legs with one knee.   
  
He was trembling and he stopped any movement to gaze into her eyes. She looked up at him with her passion and love for him in her eyes. He smiled brushing back a lock of hair already wet with sweat from her face and he lowered himself. He entered her slowly and he heard her cry out in pain for one brief moment. He stopped and waited, remembering that it had been a long time since she had done something like this. He waited a moment more and proceeded slowly until he was buried completely within her. He waited a moment for her to get accustomed to the feel of him and only when she made the first move, rocking her hips slowly, did he follow, matching her movements.   
  
Her hands rose to his sides, and then moved over his back and she pulled him down to her. She was trembling and he was trembling along with her. The feelings he was receiving were overwhelming him. Their movements became less organized, a little more chaotic. She was groaning softly, her movements erratic and he knew it wouldn't be long before she found her release. Moments later she found it, calling out his name and throwing her head back into the mattress, arching her back as the world around her blurred and waves of pleasure washed over her. His release came at the almost the same time and he trembled uncontrollably as he came, crying out her name as he emptied himself within her, his world made up of only one thing, his precious Sarah.   
  
He remained trembling as he held himself over her still buried deep within her, trying hard not to fall against her and crush her with his weight. He felt her hands reach for him and pull him to her. He was afraid to open his eyes, everything was still blurry, he felt dizzy, and he felt pleasure as he had never felt it before. He finally opened his eyes and met hers. She was smiling at him, still out of breath herself from their lovemaking. He grinned back and lowered his lips to hers in a soft kiss.   
  
"I love you Sarah." He whispered his eyes were full of his love for her.  
  
She brushed back his hair, damp with sweat from his face. "I love you too."  
  
He pulled himself from her slowly and collapsed onto his back beside her in the bed. She rolled onto her side to curl herself against him. He put one arm around her and used the other hand to pull the sheets and blankets over them. His heart was still pounding in his chest. So this is what it felt like to make love to someone you actually love. The feelings were incredible and the whole experience had made him feel like a virgin all over again. He was a King and before that a spoiled prince, he'd had everything he wanted, including women. But he didn't love any of them and the passion and lust had always been empty and hollow. With Sarah it had been meaningful, right. He felt absolute completion with her.   
  
His eye lids suddenly felt heavy. He gazed at Sarah who was already sleeping, curled up against his chest. He watched her for a moment. She was so beautiful. He kissed her hair and let his head fall back onto a pillow. He let his eye lids fall and sleep claimed him. Never in his entire life had he had such a good night sleep. 


	29. A Promise of Truth...

AN: Acknowledgments!! Where do I begin???? These are acknowledgements for Chapter 28.   
  
Lady Devine: I'm sorry that I made you cry. I really feel like I am writing a book. I have the entire story printed out so far and my folder is starting to burst at the seams! When the entire story is finished I'm going to edit it and put it all together as one file. I think this is longer then my last story! I'm pleased that you enjoyed the last chapter!! And you made me feel really good when you said the chapter wasn't smutty. Yeah smut is fun to read once and a while but I rather have a nice good love story with a nice love scene that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside when you walk away from reading it. I'm glad that the chapter wasn't thought of as smut. I would rewrite it if it was!!!  
  
Silver Space: I'm a bit sad to feel the end coming myself but there are still a few more chapters to go and the way I write who knows, there might be ten more!  
  
Nicole: I'm glad that it was unexpected. I try to have a few surprises here and there.   
  
Sorceress Morgana: Ut oh, made another person cry! I'm glad that you were able to read chapter 22. I know you said that you have a problem with it coming up. I'm willing to share my cookies with everyone. I had to go out a buy a trailer to store all the cookies and plushies and other goodies that I've received thus far. My room was getting cramped and I needed some space for me and my clone! Hee hee   
  
Xelia: LOL I knew you would like that chapter! You've been waiting so patiently for a chapter like that. It's dedicated to you! Think of it as a late birthday present. : )  
  
Majestic: thank you! I can't say too much about Sarah's old friend's from the Labyrinth. You'll have to keep reading to find out if they appear or not.   
  
Ravyn: hey no spontaneous combusting please! Lol. I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter. And I love my reviewers as well so the feeling is definitely mutual!  
  
JGK: Thank you!!!  
  
Althena: (that's a cool name btw) lol I'm not going to start any bad habits with my reviewers am I??? Hope not!  
  
Lostfeyth: Still haven't eaten any of those cookies yet. They are just too cute to eat! Maybe I will varnish them all and save them. I know! I'll make a Jareth and DB shaped cookie museum. : ) Yep the happy couple is finally together, although they're not out of the woods just yet!  
  
CrystalMagic: Still enjoying that clone are you? Hee hee   
  
Hinotori: Thank you!!! Starting to feel like the ending, but is it???? *evil grin *  
  
Midnight Lady: Most of the people were nobles from other kingdoms. I have a feeling that some humans or humanoid like beings live in the Labyrinth, I mean look at Jareth, where did he come from??? Must be more beings like him somewhere.   
  
OK whew!! *wipes brow * I'm sorry that I didn't post any chapters over the weekend. I was soooo busy! Hopefully I will get back on my post a chapter everyday routine. Enjoy! Corrie~  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own Sarah or the labyrinth. I don't own Jareth either. If I did, do you think I would be sitting here writing this story???  
  
A Promise of Truth...  
  
As she drifted from her dreams and into reality she could hear a familiar voice singing a song her mother had sung to her when she was just a child. She opened her eyes slowly allowing them to adjust to the light in the strange room before she turned to face the owner of the voice.   
  
Jareth was propped up on one elbow, his face resting against his hand as he sang very softly.   
  
You Are My Sunshine  
My only sunshine.   
You make me happy   
When skies are gray.   
You'll never know, dear,   
How much I love you.   
Please don't take my sunshine away   
  
She smiled sweetly and he grinned in return, stopping his little song. "Good morning." He greeted cheerfully. And why shouldn't he be cheerful? He thought as he gazed down at her. Last night had been the most incredible night of his entire life. He had connected with Sarah in a way that had never been achieved with anyone else. Last night he had given himself to her completely and had shown her that his love for her was real and larger then life itself.   
  
She reached up to tuck a stray blond hair behind his ear. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"  
  
"Better then I have ever slept before." He told her honestly.   
  
She gazed at him with love in her eyes and as her eyes trailed along his body, she realized that they were both still naked and the only thing that protected them from the outside world was a single black silk sheet.   
  
She smiled when her thoughts drifted to the previous night. Never before had anyone been so careful with her, never before had she felt such love for another and never had she received such love in return. Jareth loved her completely, that much was certain to her. She said nothing to his reply of her question and instead reached out to touch his bare chest. The edge of the sheet settled just up over his waist so his pale chest was visible for her to touch and gaze at.   
  
A few touches of his skin caused a reaction in him that she knew about before she had even pealed the sheet back and away from his perfect form. He reached for her in return, desperate to feel her soft skin on his fingertips, his palm, his lips. Innocent touches and glances turned into more and before they knew it, they made love again. And it was just as powerful as it had been the previous night.   
  
He had protected her again as he had before and it made the experience all the more enjoyable without the fear of an ill timed or unwanted pregnancy to complicate or even ruin things. She wanted to carry his baby, that much Sarah was certain. If she ever had another child, she would only carry his, or none at all. But she had to be careful. They both had to be careful. She had been in the Labyrinth for a day and already she didn't want to leave. Jareth had drawn her to him not by magic but by his powerful love. There was still a week or even two before Ary made a decision. Sarah feared she would not survive without Jareth by her side and she was certain he felt the same way. She didn't want to leave and she prayed that Ary didn't want to leave either.   
  
They lay in the bed, a tangled mess of sheets and legs and arms. Sarah was toying with his long blond locks, a far off look in her eyes. Jareth watched her for a short while, a slight feeling of worry growing within him. She was so quiet, too quiet.   
  
"Sarah?" He questioned. He tilted his head gazing into her eyes as they focused on his. "Is....something wrong?"  
  
She continued to play with his hair, her eyes leaving his momentarily. "I should go see how Ary is doing." She said softly. He opened his mouth to speak but she buried her face into his neck. "God Jareth, I don't want to leave.... I can't hope and pray enough that I Ary will wish to stay too."  
  
He brushed back a few locks of hair from her forehead and brushed a kiss against the skin still moist with sweat from their lovemaking. "Sarah, I want nothing more in the universe for you to stay with me forever. For you both to stay, but we know it's Ary's decision and if she doesn't want to stay....." His voice trailed off. He didn't wish to think of the consequences of that alternative never mind voice them aloud.   
  
"I know I know. I've been here for a day and already I don't want to leave, don't want to think about a life without you being in it. You've made everything seem so right again in my life, even when bad things have happened. I don't want to leave you...I don't know if I can leave you now...."  
  
Jareth swallowed. He had been so foolish, they both had been. To offer and then give themselves completely to each other before the big decision had been made. "Sarah..." he started his voice shaky. "Maybe we have done the wrong thing."   
  
She pulled back from him, letting her head fall onto the pillow as she gazed into his eyes, her hazel eyes wide, alarmed. "What do you mean? You don't regret....?"  
  
He pulled her to him tightly, hugging her fiercely. "Of course not. I could never regret you or anything we have done together. We came full circle last night. We've gone from enemies to lovers. But what we have done...we've created more pain for each other, especially if fate has decided to pull us apart." He lifted his head back and away from her so that he could gaze into her eyes. "I gave myself to you completely last night as you gave yourself completely to me. I was so ignorant, so stupid not to think of the consequences of us doing such before Ary made her decision."  
  
Sarah frowned realizing what he was saying. By bonding physically as they had last night and this morning, it would be all the more difficult if they had to pull away from each other if Ary chose to return home, to the mortal world. Sarah sobbed as she realized how true this was. She didn't want to let him out of her life before she arrived, now things were ten times worse. She couldn't live with never feeling his touch on her again, couldn't live without hearing the sound of his voice, she couldn't live without him.   
  
"I won't let you bribe her to stay either Sarah. I couldn't live with myself if either of us tricked her into staying here just so that we could be together. We must try to show her the Labyrinth as it really is, just as I must show her who I really am. I will not always be kind and considerate in your presence. Some part of me is still arrogant, and cold. Ary has only seen that side of me once, when we met."  
  
"And she wasn't afraid." Sarah reminded him, hastily wiping tears from her eyes.   
  
"She was also in the safety and comfort of her own house. She's not in her environment anymore. One day I am going to lose my temper and she may see it. I would never direct my full fury at her, no matter how badly she upsets me, the same goes for you, but she will see it. And what will she think of me? She might hate me, might be frightened of me and I couldn't live with that."  
  
"I don't think she would ever hate you Jareth." She sighed. "Let's just...let's just not talk about this right now. Let's get Ary and have breakfast or something. We'll achieve nothing but heartache by sitting here and worrying ourselves. We'll show her the truth about this place. We'll also show her the truth about our feelings for each other. She should know that we are very serious about our feelings for one another. But we can't make her feel guilty if she does want to return. It's going to be so incredibly hard to lose you, but if that's the way things are meant to be...."  
  
Jareth pulled her to him roughly, wrapping her naked form in his own and hugging her tightly before he stepped forth from the bed to stand and he snapped his fingers. A moment later he was dressed completely. He offered her a gloved hand, which she took shyly, suddenly feeling odd at being the only one not dressed. The moment her hand touched his, she was dressed in a simple blue gown.   
  
"Let us get Ary, eat breakfast and enjoy the day. If we wallow in our pity, our fears, we will destroy ourselves." She nodded slowly and followed him out of his chambers and into the hall. As he took her hand into his and they began to walk toward Ary's room, she pushed the fear of leaving and losing Jareth out of her mind. They had a week or even two to spend together, the three of them. She would enjoy every second of that time as if it was their last. 


	30. One traitor meets another...

AN: Ok it seems that I have confused some people with this story and the way that I am going about things. Let's see if I can clear some things up. All the questions that many of you have are very good questions that I do know the answer to and do plan on including in the story. Please be patient, I really have thought this story out, much more then any story I have ever written.  
  
First off about Ary being left to make such a huge decision. I had hoped that I made this clear right at the beginning when Sarah was telling Jareth that she wasn't sure of much in her life. She told him that she was sure that she wanted him to remain in her life and also went on to tell him that her daughter would come first and always would. Sarah knows that she hasn't been the best mother. Most of the time she was fine and she and her daughter had wonderful times together, but occasionally she would slip into depression and would cry and feel sorry for herself as she did at the beginning when Ary summoned Jareth. Ary doesn't remember how depressed her mother was when Adam first left her because she was too young to remember. She was a baby, but she does know her mom is upset about her father leaving and she hurts about that herself. Ary was made fun of at school and made to feel insecure because other kids had a father in their life and she didn't. Sarah feels a deep sense of responsibility to her daughter. Her father is dead along with her step-mother. Her real mother is pretty much dead to her as well, since she seems to have forgotten Sarah and that really hurts her. All she has left in her life that makes her happy is Toby and Aryanna. And Aryanna being her child she wants what is best for her.   
  
She wants the kid to have a father and she wants to be in a meaningful relationship herself, but that hasn't happened over the years because Ary is afraid of men. A side effect of her father not being present in her life, as was stated in one chapter. Sarah wants her daughter to be happy and to live the best life that she can. She believes that Jareth could be the father she needs, but she wants Ary to make the decision. Ary may like Jareth as a person and a friend but Sarah doesn't know if Ary likes him enough to be her father. (I'm not going to give too much more on that, sorry you'll have to read to find out more) Sarah wants her to be happy and doesn't want to force a father on her. Her own father re-married to Sarah's disapproval (that's clearly seen in the movie) She doesn't want the same for her daughter. Do you guys want me to write a chapter about this? Would it be more clear for you all that way if I did??? Just let me know  
  
Ok and as for Sarah and Jareth making too much of the thought of being separated. That is also something I have planned for a future chapter when Sarah and Jareth sit down before Ary makes a final decision. I really don't want to say too much about that, as it would be ruining the story.   
  
  
  
One traitor meets another....  
  
  
Aryanna was bubbly and very active this morning. When Sarah found her she was playing in her toy room, already dressed in her favorite play clothes that she had brought from home. She proceeded to tell her mother how much fun she had at the ball. She had met twins who she spent the night with. Jareth stood quietly in the doorway, his presence unknown to the little girl as he watched mother and daughter interact. The child seemed to be enjoying herself thus far, but there were still 2 weeks to go. Jareth knew the little girl had taken a liking to him just as he had a soft spot for her. But he nor Sarah knew if she liked him enough or even loved him to consider him being her father. He listened quietly as Ary talked about her tea party with Megmora and how much fun it was to play tea with a dragon. He would have to thank his old friend for making the child so happy.   
  
Sarah led her from the playroom and when Ary saw Jareth leaning against the doorframe to the room she ran at him hugging him tightly. It wasn't an uncommon gesture for her. When she was happy or excited she was very affectionate.   
  
They had breakfast on a balcony overlooking the Labyrinth. Ary was pleasantly surprised to find that her mom had packed her favorite blue cereal bowl as well as her favorite cereal, Fruit Loops. Her mother and Jareth ate biscuits, eggs, and assorted fruit. Jareth made sure that Sarah had her morning coffee.   
  
The Goblin King decided to take the two ladies on a tour of his gardens as the day was warm and sunny. Megmora joined the small party by her own choice. Jareth watched as the half dragon pushed the little girl on a swing that hung from a large old tree. If he didn't know any better he would have believed that the dragon had taken a liking to the child. It was well known in the castle that Megmora did not like children and she wasn't thrilled about mortals either, but since meeting Sarah and Aryanna, Jareth believed that her opinions had changed.   
  
Sarah stood with Jareth as they watched the dragon push the little girl, the child laughed happily as she swung into the air. Jareth took the time to slip away with Sarah and they walked together through the gardens, her arm through his. He was in a wonderful mood. The gardens were beautiful with flowers blooming everywhere. It was well kept and so quiet except for the birds that sang and Aryanna's laughter. They didn't stray too far from the girl and the dragon and took a seat on the edge of a white marble fountain.   
  
Sarah leaned her head against his shoulder and he kissed her hair, before wrapping his arms around her. She closed her eyes content with being in his arms. The sun felt good against her skin and the joyful laughter of her daughter filled her ears. She wished the rest of her life could be like this day. She lifted her head to peer at Jareth who was gazing at her intently. He smiled, his sharp canine like teeth sparkling in the sunlight. He lowered his head to kiss her. Nothing earth shattering, but just a simple affectionate kiss.   
  
The alone time didn't last long as Jareth heard Megmora calling for him.   
  
"yer Majesssty??"   
  
"I'm here Megmora, by the fountain." Jareth released Sarah and stood, moving away from her seated form. He stood a little taller, looking more like the Goblin King, then Sarah's Jareth, just as Megmora appeared around a large shrub. She was out of breath and grinning.   
  
"The child, yer majessty, she wissshes for you to pusssh her on the ssswing."  
  
Jareth smiled. "Of course." He turned to Sarah offering a gloved hand to her.   
  
She shook her head. "I'd like to stay here, if you don't mind. Just for a little while. I'll be along shortly."  
  
He nodded, flashing her a dazzling smile before he stepped along side Megmora. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you were enjoying yourself." Sarah heard him tell the dragon as they moved away.   
  
Sarah smiled as she watched them go and smiled even more when she heard Aryanna asking Jareth to push her and high so that she could see above the walls of the garden. She sat quietly, gazing at the gardens around her.   
  
"So it's true." That voice, so familiar. She turned her head to face it.  
  
"Hoggle!" she cried out. There was the little man. He didn't look any different then how she remembered him, dressed in clothes not too different from the last time she saw him, jewels still hanging from a belt at his side. She jumped up off the fountain, moving towards him, smiling the entire way. She frowned when he backed away.   
  
"Don't Hoggle me! I didn't believes it was true, buts I seen it was, with me own eyes!" His large brows were lowered angrily over his blue eyes and he was pointing an accusing finger at her.   
  
Sarah swallowed. She was so happy to see Hoggle but he seemed so angry with her. "Hoggle, what are you talking about?"  
  
The little dwarf's face turned red and he jumped up and down. "What am I talkin about? What am I talkin about? I'm talkin about you and him! I didn't believe it was true when everyone else talked about it. I thought it was just a rumor, but I just seen it with me own eyes! You're a traitor!"  
  
Sarah pulled back, clearly hurt but his accusations. "A traitor?" she echoed.   
  
"A traitor!" he pointed, walking towards her, his jewels clinking at his side. "I seen ya with him! I did! Sittin all cozy in his arms before he left!"  
  
Sarah blinked. "You mean Jareth?"  
  
Hoggle rolled his eyes. "Who else would I mean? I seen you two together. You was with him! You fell for the Goblin King's charms! Traitor!" he cried out angrily.   
  
"One traitor meets another...and after all these years." came a cool voice. "How very fitting." Jareth stepped forth from some trees and moved to Sarah putting his arms possessively around her. Hoggle's eyes widened and then slanted with anger. Jareth raised his chin, looking as arrogant as ever. "Well well well. If it isn't Hoghead?"  
  
"Oooooohhh! It's Hoggle!!!" The dwarf cried out, his face bright red.   
  
"Whatever. You really are a contradiction, do you know that?" he said coolly.   
  
"What are you talkin about?" Hoggle demanded. Sarah noticed that he seemed to have no fear for the Goblin King that once scared him.   
  
"You claim that Sarah is a traitor for being with me now, yet if I remember correctly it was you 20 years ago who betrayed me to help her. That makes you a traitor as well." The Goblin King said coldly. Hoggle opened his mouth but snapped it shut. "Nothing to say now, Hoggle?" Jareth stressed the use of his name.  
  
"I just wants to know why? You hated him!" Hoggle asked Sarah. There was some sadness and some jealousy in his voice.   
  
Sarah shook her head. "I didn't hate him Hoggle. How could I hate the man who gave me my dreams?"  
  
"But he didn't! He tried to make me bring you backs to the beginning, he made me give ya that peach!""  
  
Sarah smiled at the memory of the crystal ballroom. "Yes he did. He was playing his part as the Goblin King, but he also did everything I wanted. He took my brother when I asked him to and he gave me a chance to win him back. He gave me a chance to meet my fantasies."  
  
Hoggle sighed, his shoulders slumped. "Why didn't cha call us Sarah?" there was definitely sadness in his voice.  
  
Sarah felt guilty for not calling him again. She felt guilty for not calling any of her friends. She sighed. "Because I wanted everyone and....and that meant." She glanced at Jareth who still looked every inch the insolent king she remembered.   
  
"That meant me as well." Jareth finished, his voice still cold as he glared at the dwarf.  
  
Hoggle shot him a look. "Ya don't need him Sarah! He's only gonna hurt ya."  
  
Sarah shook her head and kneeled before Hoggle putting a finger to his lips. "No Hoggle. He's not."  
  
Hoggle gently moved her hand away. "How ya know that?"  
  
"Because she knows that I love her." Jareth said loudly, clearly. It was the first time he has said it aloud for someone else to hear, other then Sarah and her daughter. His love for Sarah made him feel vulnerable, and he knew it was something he would need to get used to, because his love for her would not change.  
  
"You don't know what love is!" Hoggle cried out, ignoring the King's heartfelt confession.  
  
Jareth rolled his eyes. "Oh not this again." He put his hands on his slender hips.   
  
'You don't love her!"  
  
"Yes I do!"  
  
"No you don't!"  
  
"Stop it both of you!" Sarah cried out. They were acting like little children. "For once you are wrong about Jareth, Hoggle. He does love me and he's proved it many times. I'm sorry that is hard for you to understand or believe but it's the truth."  
  
Hoggle crossed his arms over his chest. "He don't know what truth is. All he knows is lies and deceptions."  
  
"On the contrary Hoggle. Jareth has been nothing but honest with me." She was standing now and Jareth was by her side, making his place known to the dwarf. Sarah was his, and his alone.  
  
Hoggle swallowed as he gazed at the pair. He hated to admit that they made a wonderful couple. Sarah with her long dark hair and hazel eyes, her strong will and The Goblin King with his wild blond locks, pale skin and a will as strong as Sarah's. "And you loves him in return, don't ya?"  
  
Sarah lifted her chin defiantly. The look on her face, her stance reminded both the dwarf and the Goblin King of the Sarah from so long ago. "Yes I do." Her stance softened. "You're my friend Hoggle and I hope you can understand things."  
  
Hoggle smiled at the word. "I'm stills your friend?"  
  
'Of course you are and I hope that we will remain friends for a long time. I hope that you and Jareth will be able to get along, for my sake at least."  
  
The dwarf looked up at the Goblin King and back at the grown woman who once was a child. "All right. I'll try to be nice to him."  
  
Sarah looked at Jareth who sighed. "Fine, but I'm only doing it because it pleases you."  
  
Sarah smiled. "Good. Now shake hands. "  
  
Jareth and Hoggle both growled and awkwardly shook hands.   
  
"Wonderful. Now let's go see my daughter."  
  
"Daughter? Ya gots a daughter?" Hoggle asked surprised. He then looked at Jareth. "Tells me it's not his." The Goblin King slanted his mismatched eyes.  
  
"Hoggle!" she cried out horrified. "That wasn't very nice!"  
  
"I was just telling me honest opinion. We got one of him running around, we don't need more like him."  
  
"Why you little..." Jareth started rushing forward. For the first time Hoggle looked genuinely scared and he backed away from the enraged King.   
  
"Jareth stop! Hoggle apologize. That wasn't very nice."  
  
Hoggle sighed. "All right, I'm sorry."  
  
Sarah took Jareth's hand and started to lead him away when she saw him refuse Hoggle's apology. "Ary must be wondering where we are."   
  
They found the little girl playing with Megmora. The dragon was blowing smoke rings from her nostrils and Ary was rushing around after them, trying to catch them before they drifted too high. Hoggle smiled when he saw the child. She was beautiful and looked so much like Sarah.  
  
"She's beautiful...just like her mum." Hoggle said aloud as he watched the child.   
  
Sarah smiled sweetly and she noticed that Jareth looked annoyed. She nearly giggled at his expression. Surely he wasn't...? Maybe he was jealous.   
  
Ary suddenly noticed her mother and the Goblin King and stopped her running. 'Mommy look! Meg is making rings for me to catch!"  
  
"Meg?" Jareth questioned.   
  
The dragon smiled, her sharp teeth visible. "She has given me a nickname."  
  
"So I see."  
  
"Ary sweetie, I want you to come over and meet someone. Someone that helped me through the Labyrinth when I was here." The little girl bounded over gleefully rushing between Sarah and Jareth. "Aryanna, I would like you to meet my friend Hoggle."   
  
The dwarf smiled as sweetly as he could. "Hello."  
  
"He's little!" She giggled.  
  
"Ary!" Sarah scolded angrily. She shot a look at Jareth when he grinned wickedly almost encouraging the child.  
  
"No it's all right. I am who I am." Hoggle shrugged.   
  
"You knew mommy?"  
  
"yes, a very long time ago. I helped her through the Labyrinth."  
  
"You helped her get back Uncle Toby?"  
  
Hoggle nodded. He remained silent studying the child. He wasn't very good with children and didn't know what to say to her. He was surprised and relieved when Jareth saved him.   
  
"Ary, let's go play so that your mother can talk with Hoggle." Sarah smiled her thanks at the chance of being able to talk alone with her old friend. Jareth nodded sweetly and then picked up the child in his arms, spinning her wildly across the small open meadow. Both of their laughter filled the air.   
  
Hoggle frowned as he watched. It was obvious that Sarah's daughter adored the Goblin King and he had a funny feeling the Goblin King felt the same way about her.  
  
Sarah watched as Jareth asked Megmora to blow more smoke rings and he quickly began to pull forth crystals that he hurled effortlessly through the center of the smoke rings. They exploded into different colors when they reached the other side of the ring. They reminded Sarah of small fireworks. It wasn't long before Jareth gestured for Ary to try and get one through and the game was on.   
  
"I would never have thought ya would return here...and with him no less." Hoggle sounded bitter and he didn't care. "You called him, but you didn't call us." He shook his head, clearly upset.  
  
"I didn't call him Hoggle."  
  
"Ya had to. He couldn't go to ya unless ya called him."  
  
"I didn't call him. I haven't thought about Jareth since I was a teenager, I've had a lot more important things on my mind. Like raising my daughter."  
  
"How did he enter your life then?"  
  
"That would be a better question for my 8 year old daughter."  
  
"She called him?"  
  
"Oh yes and somehow convinced him to stay with us to help make me happy again." She gazed at Jareth dreamily as she watched him and her daughter continue to play their new game. "And he has made me happier then I could have imagined."  
  
"Are ya gonna live here now?"  
  
His words broke her out of her dreamy thoughts. "I don't know Hoggle."  
  
"I don't understands ya? He makes ya happy and ya don't know if ya will stay?"  
  
"It's not my decision to make. It's Ary's. I want to stay. I'm already enjoying it here. But I want what's best for my daughter. She doesn't have a father."  
  
Hoggle sighed. He was disliking this whole situation less and less. "And ya want the Goblin King to be her father?"  
  
Sarah nodded. "Ary will need to make the decision herself. I won't put her through what my father put me through. My step-mom was thrown into my life. My dad never even bothered to ask me if I wanted a new mom. He married her, just like that...I wasn't even invited to the wedding. I was visiting my real mother for the weekend and my father married this other woman...just like that." Sarah shook her head. 'I won't do that to my daughter. She likes Jareth but I don't know if she likes him enough to want him to be her father. She can choose." She gazed at Hoggle with tear filled eyes. "I'll know her decision in a week or two."  
  
Hoggle merely nodded. "I should go. Got places to go, people to see, work to be done."  
  
"Will I see you again?"  
  
"If ya want to." He shrugged.  
  
"I do want to see you again Hoggle. Have you seen Ludo or Sir Didymus?"  
  
'I have, but not for a long time. Didymus went back to guarding the new bridge that crosses the Bog of Eternal Stench." He shivered at the thought of the place. "Ludo went off on his own. He wanted to stay with Didymus but couldn't stand the stench. I don't knows where he went."  
  
Sarah nodded sadly. "Thanks Hoggle." She bent to kiss him and he pulled violently away from her, pointing a finger at her.   
  
"Don't ya kiss me! Last time ya did that we almost ended up in the bog!"  
  
Sarah giggled. "I forgot about that."  
  
"Yeah well I didn't. I gots to go. Don't let your guard down around that rat who calls himself Jareth."  
  
"Don't worry about me Hoggle. I can take care of myself."  
  
Hoggle nodded, somewhat satisfied and he left the gardens.   
  
Sarah sighed and turned to watch Jareth and Ary. They were playing hide and seek now and Megmora had joined in. She smiled as she watched them, settling herself down on the soft grass. This sure beat typing all day at the office. 


	31. Jealousy and an Old Promise broken...

AN: hey everyone, sorry for the late post of this next chapter as well as yesterday's late post. I'm having problems with my modem and I had to take my computer apart yesterday. I have to do this occasionally to make it work right. But things seem ok now (knock on wood) So here is the next bit. As always please R/R!  
  
  
Jealousy and a promise broken...  
  
The next few days passed by in a blur. Hours spent outside enjoying the warm spring air of the underground. Hours spent pushing a child on an old swing, and playing games that made the adults feel like children again. Aboveground became a forgotten thing, as did much else as The Goblin King and a mortal woman who had claimed his heart grew closer and closer.   
  
It was the fifth day when Jareth gave Sarah a welcome surprise at dinner time. Already seated at the usually empty large table were Sir Didymus, Ludo and Hoggle. Sarah couldn't contain her joy and she threw her arms around Jareth, hugging him tightly and saying thank you over and over to him.   
  
"My lady." Didymus bowed before the grown Sarah. "My have you have grown, and into such a charming young woman." Sarah, so overjoyed hugged the terrier and introduced her daughter.   
  
"Little Sawah.." Ludo commented upon seeing Ary.  
  
Sarah laughed and grinned at her daughter. "She does look a bit like me doesn't she?"   
  
Ary was intrigued by the large creature who reminded her of an overgrown teddy bear and took a seat beside him at dinner asking him question after question. Ludo was very patient with her and it didn't take much for him to grow fond of her.  
  
Dinner was spent remincing with old friends. Everyone was bubbly and full of joy, except for Hoggle who remained fairly quiet, picking at the extravagant meal the Goblin King had so graciously provided for them all. He had watched Sarah carefully all night. She sat beside Jareth who on more then one occasion had put his arm casually around her, gently touched her hair, squeezed her shoulder or gazed at her lovingly. The way he smiled at Sarah made Hoggle sick. The Goblin King had done all but kiss her passionately in front of his guests, which Hoggle believed wouldn't happen due to the young child who sat beside him at the table. Jareth could be pompous, incredibly flirtaous with women, rude at times, but it seemed he never was this way in front of children or his precious Sarah. Hoggle didn't understand where this sudden jealousy came from, but it raged within him like a violent summer storm. He realized that he should be glad that Sarah had chosen to be his friend at all. But regardless, old words echoed in his mind as he watched Sarah and Jareth together.   
  
"Do you think a young girl could ever like a repulsive little scab like you?" He could remember how the King had spoken them, jealousy present in each and every word. He never understood where the King's jealousy had come from, until now.   
  
He slumped in his seat as he watched Sarah lean against the Goblin King and the two of them laughed at something Didymus had said. "Why would a beautiful woman ever like a repulsive giant scab like you?" He bitterly spit quietly to himself speaking of the King. He got up from the table, tossing his napkin down and jumped down from the chair, propped with pillows so he could be even with the table.   
  
He knew he made a scene as left the room. He heard Sarah call out to him and ask where he was going and what was wrong, but he kept walking. He had seen enough of the King showering affections on Sarah to last a lifetime. Despite what Jareth claimed and what Sarah believed, Hoggle thought the King was manipulating her, using magic to win her. He was determined to prove that he was right, so that Sarah would see the true Jareth. No matter what the cost...  
  
"Well, I wonder what that was all about?" Didymus said aloud. "Sir Hoggle, clearly seemed angry about something."  
  
'I hope that he is ok." Sarah added. Hoggle did seem upset about something, although she had no idea what. Sarah saw her daughter yawn. It was growing late. Dinner had been at 7 and after all the talking it was nearly 9:30. "Someone is tired..."  
  
Ary yawned again. "I'm not tired mommy."  
  
Jareth chuckled. "She is just like her mother, too stubborn for her own good." He rose from the table. "I'll tuck her in." He offered.  
  
Sarah smiled her thanks as Jareth took her daughter's hand and led her away.   
  
"The King is so different." Didymus told Sarah when Jareth and Ary had gone. "He really loves you and that is such a wonderful thing, my lady. He has never loved anyone, save himself."  
  
Sarah rested her face into her hand. "Do you know why he never loved anyone else?"  
  
Didymus shook his head. "I do not fair lady. His Majesty is very secretive. Even Megmora who is his closest friend in this place does not know what the Goblin King thinks and feels, not unless she senses them with her magic." Didymus smiled, his white canine teeth visible for Sarah to see. "Yet with you, he seems open. I've never seen him so affectionate before."  
  
"Never?"  
  
"Never, my lady. He truly loves you." The terrier yawned. "The hour grows late and I have been away from my post for far too long. It was wonderful to see you again, and you as well my brother."  
  
"Ludo has missed brother and Sawah."  
  
"We've missed you as well." Didymus told him. Sarah hugged her friends tightly and watched as they left. She remained alone in the dining hall, gazing at the dishes, scattered remains of an enchanted evening.   
  
She didn't hear Jareth re-enter the dining room nearly a half hour later. She was so deep in her thoughts she was barely aware of the few goblins who had cleared the table in front of her. She felt warm breath on her neck and soft lips, kissed her gently.   
  
"Something troubles you, my love." He said softly.   
  
She sighed. "I just wish I knew what made Hoggle so upset at dinner. He barely said a word."  
  
He kissed her neck again and the sensation made her shiver. "I don't think he has come to terms with seeing us together. He was staring at us all night and glaring at me."  
  
She turned in her seat to face him. "Why is it so hard for him to understand?"  
  
"Sarah, I've been with you, nearly everyday since we met again for the first time in so long and there are times when I can hardly believe myself what has happened. After twenty long years of being denied what it was I truly wanted and needed in life I have to admit that this all feels like a dream at times. Being able to hold you, to touch you, to see your love. It feels like a very realistic dream."  
  
"I know." She whispered softly. She reached up to kiss his cheek. "Thank you for putting Ary to bed."  
  
"You're welcome. She was so tired she fell asleep in my arms when I carried her down the hall. Perhaps I am exhausting her too much."  
  
Sarah shook her head. "No. The exercise is good for her."  
  
"You're not too exhausted, are you? For a small surprise."  
  
She smiled sweetly at him. "Another surprise? I was quite happy with the one you gave me at dinner. Where did you find Ludo?"  
  
"My magic found him, wandering off on his own. Now, are you too exhausted?"  
  
She grinned wickedly. "It depends on what we will be doing."  
  
He chuckled a low throaty sound and gently pulled her to her feet. He pulled forth a crystal and she felt the familiar warmth of being transported somewhere. She closed her eyes and when she reopened them they stood on a cliff that over looked the ocean.  
  
It was a bearutiful sight. The waves, glistening in the light of a full moon crashed against a rocky shore, lined with jagged and dangerous but equally as beautiful and breathtaking cliffs.   
  
"This is where I spent my time, when I needed to get away. Graylor's Cliffs. The only place in the entire underground that could comfort me, that would let me escape reality. I came her often after you defeated me." He added softly.   
  
"It's beautiful." She nearly whispered, still in awe of this amazing place.   
  
Jareth pulled her down to sit with him on the grass topped cliff they stood on. Sarah suddenly looked very serious.   
  
"Jareth, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
She took a deep breath. "Why....why is it, that you never loved anyone before me? What was it that made you hide your heart from someone?"  
  
Jareth sighed deeply as memories of his past came rushing back to him like the waves rushed to the cliffs below them.   
  
"It's hard for me to believe that I'm the first woman you've ever loved." She continued. "I saw the women at the ball, many of them were beautiful, single and strong independent women like me."  
  
"And each and every one of them would fall at my knees if I merely glanced at them. They would do everything that I asked because they are weak and also power hungry. But you....you denied me twice. This is going to sound incredibly pompous of me, but for you to deny me...that's quite an amazing thing and for you to do such to me twice made you all the more desirable to me."  
  
"Ok that sort of clears up why you would chose me over them, but why was there never a woman before me?"  
  
He turned his head, gazing out into the ocean his glance even more distant then the horizon. One hand nervously toyed with the grass beside him. "There were other women before you....but I never loved any of them." He admitted softly.   
  
Sarah couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy of thinking of him with other women, but she quickly buried the feeling. It would be completely naïve of her to believe that she was the first women he'd ever made love to or held in his arms.   
  
"Why didn't you love them?" She pushed and she reached for his hands, pulling them into her own. She realized very suddenly that she knew nothing about this man other then what she had seen with her own eyes. She knew nothing of his past, his parents, his friendships. Nothing. He was almost a stranger to her and that frightened her somewhat.   
  
"I don't know..." he offered lamely.  
  
"Yes you do. You haven't lied to me before, don't start doing it now. Why didn't you love any of them?"  
  
He pulled away from her, moving to stand by the edge of the cliff. "I swore to never love...and I nearly kept my promise."  
  
She stood and moved by his side, resting her head against his shoulder. "I don't understand."  
  
He sighed deeply and pulled her to his chest, needing the feel of her against him to comfort him. "I promised a friend...that I would never love....and I broke that promise."  
  
"By loving me..." she said softly.   
  
"Yes..." he whispered.   
  
"Why did you promise that and to whom?"  
  
"Artaygon, he was my best friend." There was sadness in his voice. "He wanted me to promise him..."  
  
"Why would he do that?"  
  
"Because love betrayed him...killed him...and he didn't wish the same fate to fall upon me."  
  
Sarah lifted her head to gaze into his face. His mismatched eyes were glazed with tears and this surprised her. He looked nearly as vulnerable as the night she admitted her love to him. She hugged him to her tightly offering herself as comfort and he took it. "Tell me what happened..."  
  
Jareth swallowed. "Artaygon and I grew up together. Both spoiled foolish princes. He fell in love first, to a beautiful woman who ended up betraying him, by plotting against him with his own brother for the throne. He was savagely murdered and as he lay dying in my arms he made me promise that I would never love, would never let anyone take my heart and trample it through the mud. I promised him and as he took his last breath I steeled myself. Put a fortress so strong around my heart that no one could reach it. I vowed never to let anyone get close to me. The death of my best friend was incredibly hard on me, but I steeled myself against that as well." He sighed deeply and stroked her hair with trembling.   
  
Sarah could sense that he was close to breaking down. She could understand his feelings, his need to close himself off from his emotions. She has been that way at first when Adam had left her. When she had found that note scribbled in his careless hand writing that he wasn't coming back. She had steeled herself as well, but it soon became a losing battle. She couldn't imagine how Jareth could have managed to do it for all these years.   
  
He was trembling in her arms, fighting to keep himself in control, he tried to put on his cool, arrogant mask, but he was never able to hold it up to his face for very long while in Sarah's presence. "It took me years to understand how a spoiled, mortal child could have penetrated not only the physical labyrinth of my kingdom but the one in my heart." He stroked her hair as he spoke, his blond hair blowing in the cool salty breeze. "I didn't understand how a child who didn't even love me, whom I believed never thought of me again had been able to capture me so." He gazed into her eyes. "You became an obsession. Everything reminded me of you, no matter if I changed the appearance of something with magic or hid it from my eyes. Everything reminded me of the defeat of my labyrinth and the defeat of the fortress surrounding my heart."  
  
"I couldn't get over the reality that you had defeated me in more ways then one. Your will truly was and still is as strong as my own and that is why you defeated me. You are my equal, the other half of my soul, mortal, immortal, human or inhuman makes no difference to me. The difficult road to get here is nearly forgotten when I look into your eyes or hold you in my arms." He lowered his trembling lips to hers. "It was well worth it to break that promise to have you here with me right now. It is worth it to love and feel love in return. To live without love, is to not live at all." A tear rolled from his blue eye and she kissed it away with her lips. She pulled him to her and they fell to the soft grass. She let him sob softly in her arms and she allowed his lips to touch her. She let his touches become bolder, allowed her own to become bolder until they were both as naked as the day they were born. She allowed him to make love to her on the cliff overlooking the ocean, to heal himself, to reassure himself of her love for him while at the same time proving his love to her.  
  
When they collapsed onto his bed later on Sarah didn't feel like he was a stranger anymore. She felt just as he that they were two halves of the same soul. Equally made to suffer until they had found their true selves in and happiness in each other. 


	32. The Abduction...

AN: Hi everyone. This is the author of the Story that never ends...gosh it feels like it doesn't! I just have so much to write and I can't make things simple for these characters. Story would be pretty boring if life was easy for them. Due to the holiday coming up as well as a full day of work for me on Saturday this chapter will be it until Monday. Thank you for the reviews, please continue them! Happy Easter!  
  
The abduction....  
  
  
Sarah walked casually beside Jareth through the crowded streets of the Goblin City. Her daughter walked on her other side followed by Megmora who was telling Ary some of the different sights they saw. Sarah could only marvel at how the City had changed. The broken down houses must have been rebuilt. There was a marketplace, restaurants, shops. She didn't remember these things when she walked through 20 years prior.   
  
The Goblin King walked regally beside her as if he owned the place and she had to remember that he did. This was his Kingdom after all. Most of the goblins steered clear of the King who seemed to be enjoying the fresh air and showing his guests the sights. Sarah noticed an arrogance in his walk as well as his usual icy stare which kept many of the goblins from approaching him. She let her eyes roam over him as he walked beside her. He had chosen to wear a black, open front poet shirt, his cape with the high leather collar, his black tights and knee high boots. His blond hair bounced softly against his shoulders and chest as he walked. He looked incredibly handsome today.  
  
He was well aware of her observing gaze of his form and he felt his ego swell slightly. He let her enjoy the view for a short while before he turned his head to look at her. A slight grin tugged at his lips. Sarah noticed that he looked proud, as if he were parading his family through the streets of his kingdom. With a grin of her own, she acknowledged that was exactly what he was doing.  
  
Ary was chatting non stop and Megmora was patiently telling the little girl what each and every sight was. Both Sarah and her daughter were pleasantly surprised to see that not only Goblins lived in the city. There were dwarves, gnomes, fairies, horses, cows, chickens and the most fascinating were people that appeared to be human.   
  
Jareth noticed her interest in the peasants that resembled humans and leaned closer to her. "Are they human?" Sarah asked gazing into his mismatched eyes.  
  
Jareth shook his head, his blond mane scattering around his pale face. "They are creatures of magic just as I. Of course their magic is not nearly as powerful as my own. Those born into royalty are born with wonderful powers. The people you see on the streets can do small 'tricks'. One may be more talented at shoeing a horse, then others because he can communicate with them. Another may have the power of transportation, enabling them to journey to the next camp or settlement without the use of animals for transportation." He leaned closer to her, his lips inches from her ear. "They are mortal, just as you are, but they are not human. If you look closely you will see."  
  
Sarah felt cold suddenly as Jareth pulled away slightly and as she saw what he was talking about. From a distance they appeared to be human, but upon closer observation one could see that they were not. Some of them had strange colored eyes, or abnormally large ears, some had small horns, others had three fingers, or hooved feet.   
  
And one male that they passed, attracted Sarah's stare and she gazed at him intently. He stood leaning against the wooden pole of a porch that belonged to a shop, taking a bite of a piece of fruit every so often. He was dressed much like Jareth but his clothes were older, more worn. The clothes noting the state of his place in society. He was not a peasant, but not royalty either. A white poet's shirt, a long dark brown cape, tan pants and well used riding boots made up his outfit. He had long dark hair, pulled carelessly back with a raw hide tie, dark brown eyes, nearly black and eyebrows that slanted up like Jareth's. But he was not handsome like Jareth was. A long thin scar trailed from his forehead across one eye and ended halfway down his cheek.   
  
The way he stared at Sarah made her shiver and she noticed that Jareth suddenly seemed close to her again. The man was staring at Ary and Sarah protectively took her hand into her own. His gaze fell upon Sarah again and he allowed his eyes to roam up and down her slender form. Jareth's arm was suddenly around Sarah's shoulder and Sarah knew from the tension in his touch, it was not an affectionate gesture, but one of protection, of possessiveness. Jareth's gaze on the man was deadly, so incredibly icy.   
  
The man didn't seem fazed in the least and leaned back against the pole, crossing one booted foot over the other. He reached into his cape and pulled forth a small pouch. He took something from the pouch, stuck it in his mouth and lit it up, smoking it casually. He blew a smoke ring from his mouth and Sarah felt Ary move beside her. She knew her daughter quite well, and she knew Ary would comment that the man had made a smoke ring like Megmora could. She squeezed Ary's shoulder, causing the girl to glance at her mother. Sarah mouthed the word "no" to her.   
  
The man took another smoke of his cigarette, blew the smoke from his mouth and then spoke. "I'd heard the Goblin King found himself a mortal whore. I thought he was smarter then that to take a used one." He spit , his dark eyes falling upon Ary's small form.   
  
Jareth stopped dead in his tracks, his grip on Sarah, tighter then it was before. "You'd better silence your tongue, or I'll silence it for you." He threatened and then he turned to Megmora, saying something to her in a language Sarah didn't understand. The dragon nodded and gently steered Ary and Sarah away.   
  
"Come Lady Sssarah, this could get ugly." Sarah nodded and followed even though everything within her seemed to tell her she should protest. Megmora escorted her and her daughter a short distance away.  
  
"Meg, do you know who that man is?" Sarah asked her. Her hazel eyes were wide as she peered around the corner of a wooden building, watching Jareth and the man exchange words. Whatever they were saying it was causing anyone in the area to rush away from them.   
  
"Unfortunately I do, Lady Sssarah. He iss a fowl man named Gorgin. The King hasss assked that I take you both back to the casstle."  
  
"What about Jareth?"  
  
Megmora smiled, her forked tongue flicking from her mouth. "His Majessty can take care of himsself."  
  
Sarah was going to reply but instead a scream came forth from her mouth. Strong arms gripped her and pulled her onto the back of a horse that had not been there seconds before. She struggled, kicking and fighting with all of her strength, but she was no match for the creature that held her. He was big, strong, ugly and smelled like he had not bathed in a few years. His brown hide was covered in warts and scars. His face was inhuman, uncaring. As she thrashed wildly in his grasp she saw that Meg had fallen back onto the ground and she was protecting Ary from two other creatures that tried to advance at them. She let loose a stream of fire that sent the creatures running. The one who held Sarah captive kicked his horse to get away from the dragon and fled with Sarah, a trail of dust billowing behind them.  
  
"JARETH!!!"   
  
Jareth's head whipped around at the cry of his name from Sarah's lips, his heart suddenly pounding fiercely in his chest.   
  
The man on the porch laughed and it was not a nice sound. "Lost something, dear Goblin King?"  
  
"What have you done?" Jareth spun at him, his eyes filled with anger.  
  
Megmora came rushing forth, Ary in one arm. The child was crying. "He took my mommy!" she was sobbing over and over again. A look of anguish and of helplessness on Meg's face, confirmed the little girl's sobs and Jareth felt his heart sink in his chest.   
  
"Ooh has the Goblin King lost something? Poor King." The man taunted.   
  
Jareth lunged at the man who calmly held up a hand to him. "You even think about hurting me and she's dead." Jareth stopped and held his ground. "Let's see if the rumors are true." The man smiled.   
  
"What do you want from me?" Jareth growled, yet he kept his composure, didn't give into his anger and retained his cool demeanor.   
  
"You know very well what I want from you." The man smiled cruely. "Let's see if the rumors are true shall we? Does the Goblin King love the girl enough to save her from certain death? Or will he leave her to die in a dingy, damp dungeon where with time her spirits would wither and she would beg someone to kill her and take her away from that awful place." He took a puff of his cigarette and then dropped it to the ground where he stepped on it with the toe of his boot. He then bowed mockingly before the Goblin King. "I shall be in touch with you very soon....You always were a fool Jareth..."  
  
Jareth growled as he watched Grogin disappear from his view. Jareth pulled forth a crystal and transported himself, Ary and Megmora to his throne room before anything else could happen.  
  
Away from the prying eyes of his subjects the Goblin King took to pacing back and forth in front of his throne. "I should have realized the moment that I saw him that he would try something! I should have brought us back to the castle."  
  
"You could not have known your majesssty. He hass been misssing for many yearss." Megmora told him.   
  
"I should have known! His motives have not changed! And now because of my foolishness he has Sarah!" Megmora watched him rake a desperate hand through his blond hair. He stopped his pacing when Ary's soft sobs penetrated the anger that touched every fiber of his being. The child was sobbing as she stood beside Megmora. He dropped to his knees before the child and pulled her into his arms. She sobbed loudly and it took all his resolve to stop himself from crying along with her. "I'll get her back, Ary....I promise you." To watch her mother be abducted must have been hard for her. She wasn't used to this kind of lifestyle.   
  
The child pulled back, nodding and Jareth wiped the tears from her cheeks. He brushed her long dark hair away from her face.   
  
"Why don't you go to your playroom and play tea while I figure out a plan, ok?" Ary nodded slowly and Megmora escorted the child to her room. The little girl was braver and more mature then half of the people he had met in his lifetime.   
  
"I'll be right back child..." Megmora told the little girl once in her playroom. The dragon returned to the throne room.   
  
The King was lying in his throne, one leg dangling over the side, the other bent in front of him. He was shielding his eyes from her, his head leaning heavily against his hand. He felt Megmora's presence more then heard her approach and he slowly lifted his head, moving his hand away from his face.   
  
The look on her face and years of knowing the dragon, made Jareth realize that there was something else. Something was wrong. "What is it Meg?"  
  
The dragon swallowed nervously. "You must sssave Lady Sssarah as sssoon ass possssible."  
  
"Don't you think that I know that!" he cried out standing. Oh how he wished there was a goblin in front of him right now so he could kick it.  
  
"I realize your feelingsss for her, how difficult thiss iss on you and the child, but you must think of Ssarah. There isss ssomething that needss to be known. Ssshe will not ssurvive long in her condition."  
  
"Her condition? She's perfectly healthy. Perhaps slightly underweight, but in the prime of her life. She has no condition."  
  
Megmora lowered her scaled head. "My lord...sshe hass a condition. One that will not allow her to lasst long in a dark dungeon with improper nourishment." Megmora took a deep breath and let what she had sensed that morning be known. "Ssshe iss with child."  
  
Jareth paled. "What??" He had heard that wrong hadn't he?   
  
"Ssshe iss with child. And hass only been carrying it for a few dayss."  
  
"That's impossible! How?" He had taken every precaution to protect her from becoming pregnant.   
  
"You would know that better then I my lord....but I am certain the child sshe carriess iss yourss."  
  
Jareth raked one gloved hand through his hair. This was a nightmare. Sarah was taken prisoner and by the worst person possible imaginable and she was pregnant with his child! A pregnancy he had tried so hard to protect her from until Ary made her decision! One at this moment Sarah didn't even know about.   
  
Megmora sensed his turmoil and his desire to be alone with this new information and silently left the throne room to attend to the child.  
  
Jareth collapsed into his throne. How could she have become pregnant? He had been so cautious. And then it hit him, like a kick in the guts. The night on the cliffs by the ocean. He had forgotten to place the spell over her because he was so preoccupied with making sure she really did love him. With an anguished sob, his face fell into the soft leather of his gloved hands.   
  
And as quickly as his pity, his sorrow took him, he sent it packing. He needed to plan, to concentrate his magic on finding Sarah. Sitting in his throne and feeling sorry for his situation would not find Sarah. And finding her and saving her was only part of the problem. What was to be done with Gorgin? How to break the news to Sarah that she was pregnant...that he had failed her? He pulled forth three crystals, rotating them in one hand and he chose one, gazing into it.  
  
'Show me Sarah." 


	33. Help...

AN: Oh yeah, guess who has her computer back!! Whoo hoo! Picked it up today. Seems they messed up my cd burner and cd rom drive though so I have to bring it back in the morning and they will fix it for me while I'm there. My computer won't recognize them. Turns out I didn't lose everything on my hard drive. My power outlet died so I had no power and also the fan decided to call it quits so I had some problems booting it because it was over heating! But my baby's almost as good as new! Thanks to everyone for the concern. You'll notice that the reviews you left me have been deleted so that you can review this next chapter. To those who were saying I should keep writing, I did! Typed up the next chapter on my old word processor. Man is that thing ancient! Writing was keeping me sane since I had no computer. I will admit that I am addicted to my pc. I don't drink, smoke, don't even drink coffee. I had to be addicted to something, I chose my computer. Ok! Enough babbling! Onto the next chapter. Thank you for the reviews! I loved reading them!  
  
Help....  
  
The crystal showed nothing as he gazed into it's depths. Nothing but a pale swirling mist. There was no image of Sarah or where she was being held.   
  
"Show me Sarah." He asked again, holding the crystal in front of his eyes. He was met with the same response. No image of Sarah for his eyes to focus on. Frustrated, he threw the crystal across the room where it shattered into thousands of tiny fragments when it came into contact with a wall. He reached for the second crystal and asked of it the same as he had asked the first. This crystal was empty as well. He reached for the third and final crystal. Empty.  
  
"Perhapsss he hass taken her where magic can not reach." Jareth whirled around to see Megmora standing in the doorway.   
  
'I thought that you were watching Ary?" He practically barked at her.   
  
"The child hass fallen assleep." Ssshe tired herssself out by crying for her mother."  
  
"You should not have left her alone. In fact I want her to be watched at all times of the day and while she sleeps, a guard will be posted at her door. I'm not taking any chances with Gorgin!"  
  
Megmora nodded and turned to leave the room.   
  
Jareth sighed, trying to rein in his over active temper. "What were you saying about magic?" He asked quietly.   
  
Megmora turned to face him. "Isssuggessted that he took Lady Sssarah where magic can not go. He hasss no magic of hiss own, after hiss betrayal. He will want to face you on even ground."   
  
"I know of no such place. Magic can travel anywhere, even to the mortal world."  
  
"Think carefully. There isss a place. You were probably told sstoriess about it in your youth."  
  
Jareth was silent for a moment as he thought. "The heart of the Underground. It's protected by ancient magic that will not allow magic to be used while within." He slumped back into his throne. "Which means he must have taken her to the dungeons there. I've never been, but I have heard the stories. Horrible place, dark, damp, incredibly depressing.   
  
Megmora nodded sadly. She had heard the tales as well.   
  
"How am I going to find her? There are rumored to be hundreds of tunnels."  
  
"There isss one who can help you. He hass traveled through the tunnels before."  
  
"Anyone that I know of?" He prayed it was an ally.   
  
"Oh yesss. You know him. The dwarf Hoggle." Megmora smiled showing her sharp white teeth.   
  
Jareth nearly laughed out loud. "Hoghead? That little coward? He is the one who can save Sarah? I highly doubt that."  
  
"He can do it. He iss the only one. I know that you dissslike him. But he can sssave her."  
  
Jareth sighed. He could attempt the to find Sarah himself and get hopelessly lost within the tunnels or have someone who he disliked but who knew the way find her.  
  
"I'll search him out immediately."  
  
* * *  
  
Hoggle was searching through the debris on the edge of Goblin City. "Nuthin" he muttered and walked towards the forest. He was hungry and some fruit sounded particularly nice right about now."  
  
"Taking a trip somewhere Hoghead?" The voice was cool, arrogant.  
  
Hoggle spun around to see the Goblin King leaning casually against a tree. "I don't hafta answer any of yer questions. Go bother a goblin or somethin."  
  
The Goblin King walked towards him. "I don't have time for foolish games Hoggle." The dwarf's eyes focused on the King when he realized he has pronounced his name properly.   
  
"Games is all ya knows."  
  
'I don't play games when the life of someone I care about is at stake." The Goblin King looked deflated for a moment. There was no sign of his arrogance or his flaring ego. "I...I need your help." He admitted quietly.   
  
Hoggle put a hand to one of his large ears. "I didn't quite hear that."  
  
"I said that I need your help. I won't repeat it again." He snapped.  
  
"YOU need MY help?" Jareth nodded. "Gimme one good reason why I should help ya."  
  
"Sarah." Hoggle's bushy brows rose over his eyes and Jareth continued. "She's been kidnapped by Gorgin."  
  
"What!!!" Hoggle rushed at the King, his hands balled into tight fists. "How could ya? How could ya let him take her!?"  
  
Jareth's brows lowered over his mismatched eyes. "You think that I would just let him take her? Do you think me that cruel? Gorgin cleverly tricked me. Used himself as a diversion so his henchmen could take Sarah! I have a terrible feeling that he plans to use her as bait. She'll be a bargaining tool so that he can take my Kingdom!"  
  
"Why should I help ya keep your kingdom? We don't needs ya as King!"  
  
Jareth put his hands on his hips. "If you don't help me, he will kill Sarah. I know Gorgin well enough to know that he will keep his word when it comes to killing someone. I refuse to lose Sarah because of your foolishness to rebel against me. Rebel all you wish, AFTER Sarah is safe."  
  
Hoggle regarded him thoughtfully. "What do ya need me to do that you can't do ya self. You're the one with all the magic."  
  
"She is being held in a place where my magic will do little good. I have reason to believe that she is being held in the heart of the Underground." Hoggle's eyes widened. "I can not use my magic and I have never traveled the tunnels before. I could be there for weeks searching for her and we don't have weeks. She will not survive in the tunnels for very long." An image of Sarah lying in a dirty cot, rats scurrying around her, tear stained cheeks, and a slight swell to her belly where his child grew within her as the weeks passed, entered his mind. He shook his head furiously trying to make the image fade.   
  
Hoggle didn't miss the look of desperation, of pain on the Goblin King's face. Something inside of him felt pity for the Goblin King. It was possible that he really did care about Sarah. But another part of him still didn't trust the King. He had said that Sarah was a bargaining tool for his kingdom. Perhaps he wished to save her due to the fact that he didn't wish for her death to be on his conscience.   
  
Should he help Jareth find Sarah? He gazed at the King who stood regally, but there was something in his eyes, an expression that Hoggle had never seen before.   
  
The dwarf sighed deeply. "All rights. I'll help ya."  
  
The Goblin King nodded and pulled forth a crystal from thin air. "I can transport us as far as the entrance to the tunnels, but from there on out, my magic will be of no use to me."  
  
"Oh so ya mean that you'll have to do things like a normal person? No popping in and out of thin air, no disguises, no crystals, no-"  
  
"I get your point! I may not have my magic to fall back on, but that doesn't mean that I will be an invalid."  
  
"We'll see about that."  
  
Jareth rolled his eyes and moments later he and Hoggle were standing in front of the old metal gates that protected the stone stairs that led straight into the ground. Jareth walked quickly to the gate.   
  
Hoggle took a deep breath and looked warily at the stairs that descended into the depths of the Underground. Jareth watched his actions.   
  
"Afraid?"  
  
Hoggle swallowed. "You have no idea of what lives down there, do ya?"  
  
"Of course I don't. I've never been down there before. I have heard stories of the dungeons and of the tunnels that twist and turn in every direction and never seem to end. They make my labyrinth seem like child's play."  
  
"The tunnels are easy enough to navigate if ya know what you're looking for. They ain't so different then the Labyrinth. But the creatures? Hideous, menacing beasts that have never seen sunlight. They're evil, some of 'em will eat ya if you don't watch out. You can't bargain with them or ask fer there permission to pass by. And there are guardians at all of the entrances to important tunnels."  
  
"And the dungeons? What of the dungeons?"  
  
"We're gonna need to be on out guard. The ones that guard the dungeons are said to be the worst."  
  
"Said to be the worst. So you don't know for sure?"  
  
"I ain't certain of everything. I ain't been heres in years and things can change in them years."  
  
"Regardless if they have changed or not. We need to find Sarah."  
  
'I don't need to do nuthin'. YOU need to find Sarah, otherwise Gorgin will kill her."  
  
Jareth spun at him, his cape whipping around his slender form. "Do you care about Sarah or not? For someone who claims to be her friend, you sure don't act like one!"  
  
"I ams her friend, but this ain't me problem. You was the one who let your guard down and he took her."  
  
Jareth could feel his temper rising within him, but he pushed it away. "We're losing precious time by arguing." He told the dwarf and he moved toward the gate.   
  
"Why ya doin this anyways? Why ya suddenly care so much bout helping someone other then yer self?"  
  
"because I love her, you little fool." Jareth's cape whipped around him once more as he headed for the gates, leaving the dwarf to watch him go.   
  
* * *  
  
Sarah felt sick to her stomach. The smell that filled her nose was unbearable and to her it rivaled the Bog of Eternal Stench. After being kidnapped by a stinking beast and being dragged through what seemed like an endless maze of tunnels, she had been thrown into a very tiny room that could only serve one purpose. To be her place of imprisonment.   
  
The room was lined with walls that reminded her of the walls within the tunnels of the Labyrinth that she and Hoggle had gone through so many years before. These walls were dark in color and the rocks looked like cobblestones. Mold and mildew grew from cracks in the rocks, water from an unknown source dripped down the walls. The floor was disgustingly dirty as was everything else in the room.  
  
There was a small cot covered with some type of material that reminded her of burlap. The mattress was stuffed with feathers of some sort and it was so flat that she doubted it would support even a mouse from feeling the timber frame beneath it. There was a small metal pan that looked like it held food at one time. Her stomach turned just looking at it. At the end of the bed was a tin bucket with a handle that she realized to her disgust was what passed for a toilet.   
  
For what felt like the 100th time, she glanced around the room that she had been in for what felt like days, but was probably only hours. She shivered in the darkness. They had not even left her with a candle. The only light that entered the room was the light of a torch that burned in the hallway outside her door. The door to the room was heavy old metal with small bars at the top. Her only chance of escape and everytime she tried to turn the knob it remained as it had upon her entrance. Locked.   
  
Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned her thoughts away from her depressing surroundings and tried to think about her daughter. She prayed that Ary was safe. And she prayed that Jareth would find her and soon. She didn't know how much longer she could stay in this room without going insane.   
  
* * *   
  
Jareth growled as they met another dead end. "I thought that you knew where you were going!"  
  
"I said I thought I knew where I was going. Didn't say I was sure."  
  
Jareth growled and clenched his fists having every intention of knocking the annoying little dwarf flat on his behind. Realizing at the last second that this dwarf was his only chance to find Sarah he angrily took his frustrations out on the nearest wall.   
  
Hoggle shook his head from side to side. "That temper ain't gonna get you no where but an early grave down here. You need patience and lots of it."  
  
"Any patience I had has long since fled me."  
  
"Well you had better finds more if you want to save Sarah. This way." Jareth groaned inwardly and had no choice but to follow.  
  
They traveled down tunnel after tunnel. Water dripped from the ceilings, moss grew from the cracks between rocks. The deeper they traveled, the colder and darker it became. Jareth shivered and pulled his cape around him. He spotted a torch a short way down the wall and reached eagerly for it."  
  
"No! Don't touch that!" Hoggle cried out at him.  
  
Jareth spun around at him. "Why not? I can barely see two feet in front of me!"  
  
"If you take that torch the creatures will notice. They've memorized where the flames should burn and if they see one movin they're gonna know that we're down here. There are torched placed throughout the tunnels. Should be a bunch more down the next level."  
  
"How much further until the next level?"  
  
"Not far."  
  
Jareth growled.   
  
* * *  
  
Sarah jumped when she heard the lock to the door click. The door opened moments later and the mand she had seen on the porch in Goblin City entered, flanked by two of the creatures that had kidnapped her. He smiled devilishly.  
  
"Enjoying your stay my dear?"  
  
Sarah who had been leaning against the wall, straightened. "No I am not, if you must know. I demand that you release me." She told him, lifting her chin defiantly.  
  
The man chuckled. "Who are you to be demanding anything of me?"  
  
"Who are you?" She demanded further. She knew his name. Megmora told her it was Gorgin, but the name meant little to her. She wanted to know what she wanted her for, what his relationship to Jareth was.   
  
"Wouldn't you like to know? Who I am bears no importance to you."  
  
Sarah felt anger rise inside of her. He didn't want to answer her questions. "When Jareth rescues me and he gets his hands on you, he's going to rip you to shreds!" Her voice was strong and did not waver.   
  
Gorgin laughed throatily. "Oh you put yourself up on such a high pedestal. I hope that you don't go crashing down off of it. You don't seriously believe that the Goblin King loves you, do you?" He watched her determined stare. She did believe that Jareth loved her. "Oh you are precious..." he purred. "How did the Goblin King get involved with someone so innocent?"  
  
He moved towards her and Sarah backed away. He continued to move at her, like a predator stalked its prey and she felt her back touch the wall. Gorgin moved into her space, so close to her that she could feel his breath sweep across her face. He grinned at her uncomfortable expression.  
  
"Here's a bit of information for you, lovey. The Goblin King doesn't love anyone. He never has and he never will. You're just another pretty face to add to his collection."  
  
"That's not true!!" Sarah cried out angrily and she pushed Gorgin so hard that he stumbled backward and nearly fell.   
  
He smirked at her. He had underestimated this mortal woman. She had spunk, spirit and fire. "Well, I'll guess that we'll just have to wait and see...won't we?" He turned on his heel and left her, his guards following him, locking the door behind them. Sarah could hear their laughter as they walked away down the hall.   
  
She leaned against the wall farthest from the door, sliding down the cold, clammy stone until her bottom hit the floor. Her stomach was violently betraying her as she settled. She felt tears sting her eyes but she didn't cry. She wouldn't give into that horrible man. She knew Jareth...and he would save her. 


	34. Beware empty entranceways...

An: hello everyone! I noticed some new reviewers. Welcome to the newbies! I read each and every one of my reviews and cherish them all, so please don't anyone think that their review or opinion doesn't mean anything. It means something to me. I am so glad to have my PC back. I made sure I made CDs of all my stuff so I now have backup just in case anything ever happened to my computer. I was really lucky that I didn't lose all of my files and programs. But anyway, hopefully I will be back to the old routine of posting a chapter everyday or every other day. This story does need to be finished sometime. This is the longest story I have ever written. Well onto the story!  
  
Beware of empty entranceways...  
  
Ary opened her eyes slowly, letting them focus on her surroundings. There was a sound in the room and she turned her head to see Megmora sitting in a chair beside her bed. The dragon gave her an odd toothy smile, which Ary attempted to return, but it just wasn't happening. She let out a deep sigh instead.  
  
"Is my mommy back yet?" She asked with hope in her small voice.  
  
Megmora sadly shook her head. "I'm afraid not child."  
  
The little girl suddenly seemed angry. "How could he have let that mean man take my mommy? I thought Jareth loved her? Why didn't he protect her?"  
  
Megmora was taken back at her anger. The child always seemed so fond of her King, but she had to realize that Ary was frightened. She was in a strange world, and her mother had been taken from her. The only other person who was familiar to her was off trying to save her mother and right now she needed to blame someone for her loss and she had chosen Jareth.   
  
"King Jareth wasss taken by sssurprisse asss we all were. I would hardly sssay that he let Gorgin take her." The dragon gently rose from the chair and sat carefully beside the little mortal girl. The child looked lost, and as if she were going to break down and cry again at any given moment.   
  
'I want to go home..." Ary whined. " I want to watch cartoons, and eat ice cream. I want to see my Uncle Toby and ride my bike. I don't want to be here anymore. I want my mommy and I want us to go home!"  
  
Megmora frowned. "And what of King Jareth? You would leave him...jussst like that, after all he hass done for you and your mother?"  
  
Ary opened her mouth to speak and suddenly began to cry. Megmora pulled her into her arms gently. "Let it out little one." She rocked the little girl in her arms and soon she was sleeping once again. Megmora hoped that her words had been in confusion, frustration, otherwise the Goblin King and a certain mortal woman were in for a great deal of heart ache.   
  
* * *   
  
"This can't be right." Hoggle said softly. He stopped and gazed at two empty tunnel entrances before them. One swerved to the left and the other to the right.  
  
Jareth stopped beside him, planting his leather encased hands on his slender hips. "What can't be right? That you don't remember which tunnel to take?" He asked insolently.   
  
"No..No No.. There used to be a guardian here. The tunnel that goes to the right, leads to the dungeons. There ain't no guardian here, unless I've gone blind and don't see it. Although it was a huge hairy thing, lots a legs and eyes."  
  
"Let's not complain that it isn't here. Maybe he's out on a lunch break or something." Jareth suggested dryly.   
  
" It's well past lunch time and the guardians don't leave their posts for such trivial things. I ain't likin this one bit. We haven't seen any guardians."  
  
"Perhaps they were relieved of their posts. Perhaps there has been no one to guard for so many years that they were sent home."  
  
"That ain't likely. The guardians have been heres for hundreds if not thousands of years."  
  
"Well let's pass through and find Sarah before they decide to come back." Hoggle nodded and they entered the tunnel.   
  
It was very quiet and quite dark, but they pressed on.   
  
* * *   
  
Sarah shivered and pulled her knees to her chin trying to stay warm. The stone was cold and being so deeply underground certainly didn't help. The torches were too far away to provide any true heat. She had not dressed in the best of clothes for a trip to the Underground. The day had been warm and she had chosen a simple sleeveless dress. It was tattered and so dirty now and provided no warmth. There was the burlap blanket draped carelessly over the bed, but it looked so dirty and she didn't want to touch it. She wished she didn't have to touch the wall or the floor either.   
  
She had no idea how much time had passed but she knew she wanted out of this room. It felt like she was locked away in a tiny box with sides that were closing in on her. Sides that had every intention of crushing her and squeezing the life out of her.   
  
She wanted a warm bed, particularly one with Jareth in it, so that she could fall asleep feeling safe in his arms. She wanted a hot bath, something good to eat. She sighed, letting her face fall into her knees and she curled into a ball, trying to remain warm, using her own body heat. The cold around her was damp and at times it crept through straight to her bones. She gazed at the door and let her eyes focus on the flickering flame of a distant torch.   
  
"Jareth...where are you?"  
  
* * *  
  
"How much further to the dungeons?" Jareth asked for the 8th time.   
  
Hoggle growled. "Oooh! Stop asking me that! I don't knows an exact measurement. We still have a ways to go. The dungeons ain't exactly small. In fact they are a maze in and of itself. Hundreds upon hundreds of cells."  
  
"Oh how wonderful..." The Goblin King let out sarcastically. He tired of walking through these dark tunnels. He was cold and his feet and legs were starting to ache from so much walking. He wanted to find Sarah and hold her in his arms and see the love she felt for him shine back at him through her beautiful hazel eyes. But thinking of Sarah also brought a feeling of dread to him. How was he going to approach her about her being pregnant with his child? "You messed up royally this time didn't you?" He said softly to himself.  
  
"What was that?" Hoggle asked stopping and turning to look at the King who walked a short distance behind him.   
  
'Nothing." Jareth told him. "Absolutely nothing."  
  
"There's the dungeons?" Hoggle told him. Jareth's tired expression lifted and he walked quickly to the dwarf's side as they appeared at the entrance to a new hallway.  
  
"Sarah!!" Jareth called out. His voice echoed through the endless, empty hallways lined with dungeon cells.  
  
"What are you, some kind of idiot? You want everyone to know that we's here?" Hoggle told him pointing an accusing finger.  
  
"How else are we going to find her?" Jareth barked at him. His patience was slipping rapidly. Hoggle could see that the King was edgy.   
  
"We look through all the cells till we find 'er."  
  
"Are you mad? That could take days, even weeks. Look at all the cells!" Jareth gestured with his hand towards the maze of dungeon cells that spanned in every direction.  
  
"We either look quietly or get eaten by a guardian because we started yelling for her."  
  
"I think you are full of rubbish! There have been no damned guardians. The only creatures I have seen have been rats and mice, spiders and a few bats!" Jareth continued.   
  
Hoggle suddenly shrank back in fear and Jareth regarded him strangely. Had his temper scared the dwarf that much? Hoggle was trembling, his lower lip quivering. "Look out!!" he suddenly cried.   
  
Jareth looked up and jumped out of the way just in time to narrowly miss the crab like claw of a giant beast from flattening him. Jareth threw himself hard against one wall as the beast, who looked to be a mix between a spider and a beach crab reached out with it's sharp claws. The beast was relentless and didn't seem to tire from snapping at the King with his claws, while Jareth was beginning to tire easily.   
  
"How do we get past it?" He looked desperately for Hoggle who suddenly seemed to be missing.  
  
"You coward!!!" Jareth roared, his eyes finding the hallway empty except for himself and the beast. He was alone with this giant angry beast and he had no magic to protect him. His attention faltered for a moment and in that moment the beasts claws knocked into him. The Goblin King went sprawling to the ground. He fell unconscious onto his stomach, his blond hair spread out around him as the beast moved towards him, with the intention of turning the Goblin King into it's next meal.... 


	35. A rescue and a time for truth...

HI everyone. I tried to post this last night but ff.net wouldn't let me view any of its pages never mind sign in! As always thank you for the reviews. One of these days this story will be finished! I think when it's done, I may take a short break and then work on shorter, simplier stories, then again this story was supposed to be one chapter and look what happened! It's 35 chapters and counting!  
  
A rescue and a time for truth...  
  
The beast reached out with one claw, ready to take the Goblin King into it's grasp. A clicking of boots could be heard against the stone floor and a figure stood over the stationary form of the Goblin King. The figure shook his head from side to side.   
  
"So pathetic." He then looked up at the beast who gazed at the man with recognition in its beady black eyes. "Leave him. Grack has a meal for you at the end of the tunnel. A very big meal for a job well done." The beast complied and left the man to stand over the fallen Goblin King.   
  
Jareth was coming to, moaning softly at the pain that was throbbing in his head. He tried to rise, but felt too dizzy to sit up and he held himself off the cold floor with one hand as the other gripped his head, trying to stop the walls from spinning. He could hear the sound of something approaching and he finally was able to look up. His eyes were still blurry but he could see three figures. One appeared to be a man, the other two were large creatures of some sort.   
  
"I must admit that I am very surprised to see you here."  
  
Jareth's brows lowered over his eyes at the sound of that voice and he stood quickly, forcing himself to ignore the dizziness that threatened his legs to sway, for him to fall. The moment he stood strong hands gripped him tightly. He didn't fight but stood straight and tall, a mask of arrogance on his face. The truth was that he hadn't the strength to fight them.   
  
Gorgin stepped closer to him, his scar shining in the light of a torch that burned across the hall. "I guess the mortal was right...you do care about her. Such a pity." Gorgin paced around Jareth in a circle studying him as if the Goblin King was his prey. "I had thought that you would have learned that love is for fools, but then again you always were a fool anyway. Obviously you have not learned any lessons from the past."  
  
"It is you who has not learned from the past. You were banished from your kingdom, your existence locked away by your own parents who were ashamed of you and your magic was taken because of your foul deeds. It is you who has not learned."  
  
Gorgin spun at him and kicked Jareth in the gut, the toe of his boot jamming hard into the Goblin King's ribs. Jareth tried to double over to protect himself from further pain but the creatures that held him wouldn't have any part of that. He was forced to stand. He grit his teeth against the pain, grinding them together.   
  
"I have learned." Gorgin told him with a devious smile. "This time I will have a Kingdom to rule and it will be yours. You will sign it over to me."  
  
Jareth chuckled coldly the movement aggravating his bruised ribs, but he didn't care. "Not even my death would see you rule. My kingdom is safe guarded against such things, you know that."  
  
"I do know. Which is why you will sign over your kingdom to me and then I'll kill you."  
  
"Not a chance. Nothing could make me sign over my kingdom to you."  
  
A brow rose over one of Gorgin's eyes. "Nothing you say? How about the mortal woman that I have in my possession?"  
  
Jareth turned his face from him, gritting his teeth. His face was a mask of arrogance, a shield protecting his true feelings from being seen. "She means nothing to me." He spit out.  
  
'Oh really? I find that very interesting information, seeing as how you put yourself in danger to come here and rescue her." Jareth glared at him.   
  
"I'm not a fool Jareth, so don't treat me like one. I know damn well that you are in love with the mortal woman. Rumors of her return to the underground spread like wildfire on a windy day. Strange that she would return after she defeated you 20 years ago and strange how friendly two enemies have become. And was it a coincidence to find you out with your little ready made family in Goblin City? I think not. Even I know that you wouldn't dare set foot within Goblin City, not without good reason. You remain in your castle, you always have. You were showing her off to your subjects and showing her your kingdom as if she were to be your future queen!"  
  
Gorgin controlled his temper and watched the Goblin King intently. Jareth's face was arrogant, cold, his stare icy. "I thought you would have learned from what happened to Artaygon that love kills, love conquers, love is for fools."  
  
"Your brother has been dead for nearly a hundred years and you are still jealous of him." Jareth told him flatly.  
  
Gorgin laughed. "What could I possibly be jealous of? An early grave?"  
  
"You have never known love, even though Artaygon's brush with it was brief, he knew love for 6 months. He knew 6 months of peace and completion in the arms of a woman. That's 6 months more then you ever knew."  
  
"And those 6 months led him to his grave and made him bitter in his last moments of life."  
  
"You're still a coward, Gorgin." Jareth told him glancing at his henchmen. "You needed a woman to hide behind last time and a group of beasts to hide behind now."  
  
Gorgin's reply was a sharp kick to Jareth's ribs and once again he was not allowed to lick his wounds, so to speak.   
  
The look on Gorgin's face was a look of pure rage. "You will sign your kingdom over to me and if you won't I will give you a reason to sign."  
  
Jareth recovered quickly, doing his best to hide the pain that was ripping through him. He opened his mouth to speak but Gorgin cut him off.   
  
"I'll allow you to watch me torture your lover. I'll chain you to a wall and you can have a perfect view as I kill her slowly." Jareth's eyes were full of anger, his physical pain nearly forgotten. "Her cries will force you to sign it over to me and if her cries don't do it then perhaps her death will. If that still isn't enough to convince you, you can watch her daughter die as well. Their deaths would be your fault. Something you could have prevented had you signed a measly paper."  
  
Jareth struggled, his anger beginning to get the better of him, when suddenly a sound stopped him. Something was coming down the tunnel, something very big.   
  
Someone was yelling and running quickly and to his surprise he saw that it was Hoggle. The dwarf was running at them all at break neck speed and a beast similar to the one that had attacked them earlier was right on his heels.   
  
"It's the beast from the other tunnel, the one that can't be controlled!" Gorgin cried out.   
  
This beast was bigger then the one Gorgin had controlled so easily and it shook the tunnel as it ran. Gorgin's creatures released Jareth and the Goblin King fell to his knees, rolling to the side wall just in time as the beast made its way to them. Hoggle moved quickly to the King's side and tried to pull Jareth to his feet as the beast continued down the hall chasing Gorgin and his creatures who ran screaming for their lives.   
  
"Hoggle?" Jareth glanced at the dwarf and then down the hall where the beast thundered after Gorgin and his creatures.  
  
"No time for explanations, I bought us some time. Gotta find Sarah."  
  
Jareth got quickly to his feet, repressing the pain he felt and followed the dwarf down on the hallways in the dungeons. "Sarah!!!" he cried out loudly. Hoggle joined in this time, yelling for the mortal woman as loudly as he could.   
  
Sarah was sitting on the floor, shivering uncontrollably. She awakened as she heard noises in the usually deathly quiet dungeons. She heard voices.   
  
"SARAH!!!" Her name being called. Jareth's voice. Was she dreaming?  
  
"SARAH!!!!" That was definitely Jareth.  
  
She rushed to the door, spilling the metal pan that had been filled with some kind of gruel while she had fallen asleep, all over the floor. She reached up gripping the small metal bars.   
  
"JARETH!!!!!" she cried out loudly.  
  
"Hoggle stop. I heard something." Jareth and Hoggle stopped in the hallway and listened.   
  
"JARETH!!"  
  
"It's Sarah!" Hoggle chimed happily. "Sounded like she's to the west. Follow me."  
  
Jareth followed the dwarf, one hand on his ribs as he ran. He was in terrible pain, but he would be in far worse pain if he didn't find Sarah and get her to safety.  
  
The Goblin King tore down the hallway his cape billowing behind him, as he followed closely behind Hoggle. The dwarf skidded to a stop when he saw pale fingers gripping cold metal bars. "Theres she is!"  
  
Jareth rushed to the door. "Sarah?"  
  
"Jareth! Oh my god am I happy to see you!"  
  
"The feeling is mutual love."  
  
He reached for the handle to the door to find it locked. " Damn! How are we going to get her out?" He asked Hoggle desperately. They'd come so far. He'd been foolish to forget about the door being locked. Hoggle didn't look too concerned.   
  
"You leaves that to me." He reached into a pouch that dangled at his side and pulled out a group of keys on a ring. "Jewelry ain't all I collect." He admitted proudly. He reached for the keyhole and tried key after key. The last key fit perfectly into the slot and made a satisfying click as he turned it.   
  
Jareth pulled the door open quickly and Sarah rushed into his waiting arms. She was trembling and buried her face into the warmth of his body. She hugged him tightly and he winced. She looked up at him with concern.  
  
"You're hurt." She noticed he was favoring his right side.   
  
"I'll heal."  
  
"Where...?" she reached for him to see where he was hurt and he pulled back.   
  
"Don't...I'll be all right. We need to get you out of here before Gorgin finds us. Can you run?"  
  
She nodded trying her best to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach. He gently kissed her hand and pulled back horrified at how cold her fingers were. He noticed suddenly that she wasn't trembling, she was shivering. It took him a moment to realize that the air was colder down here then it had been in any other part of the tunnels they had traveled through. He quickly removed his cape and draped it around her. He took one hand into his and bent down to kiss her quickly on the cheek before he began to move, pulling her after him.   
  
Hoggle was already leading the way.   
  
They had run a short way when they heard Gorgin.   
  
"NO!!! Impossible!! They freed her!! Tell the guardians to return to their posts!!!" He hollered.  
  
"He knows we freed her! I knows a longer but safer route we can travel. Somewheres where we can rest." Hoggle told them. He could see that the short run had tired Jareth out and Sarah wasn't looking so good herself. She looked very pale. Jareth nodded and squeezed Sarah's hand as they followed the dwarf.   
  
Hoggle opened a door that reminded Sarah of the one he had opened years ago to help her escape the oubliette. This one was hidden within the wall and it was barely large enough for her and Jareth to crawl through. They crawled on their hands and knees through a dark tunnel that slowly opened up into a larger passageway. Hoggle took a torch off of the wall.   
  
"I thought you said that we couldn't touch the torches?" Jareth asked him. "The creatures memorized where the flames should be."  
  
"Not in this tunnel. This tunnel isn't part of the maze. It was carved out by those who escaped the dungeons long ago. Only a few of us knows about it."  
  
Jareth nodded not needing any further information and he and Sarah followed Hoggle for a half hour through the tunnels.   
  
Jareth was slowing, leaning more heavily on Sarah for support as the pain in his side grew worse with time. "Hoggle, we need to stop." Sarah said softly. She wasn't feeling so wonderful herself. She was dizzy and felt ill.  
  
Hoggle turned to see the sorry sight behind him. The Goblin King was leaning against Sarah and she looked even worse then before. Deathly pale.   
  
"All rights. We can stop here." He found a crevice to put the torch in and watched Sarah help Jareth sit and lean back against the wall. Sarah sat beside him and he pulled her into his arms, cradling her against the side of him that had not been injured. She closed her eyes and felt the warmth of his hands brush across her face. He had removed his gloves and was touching her gently. Needing to feel the warmth of her skin, to know that she was with him and that she was safe. Hoggle watched them for a moment before he started to walk away.   
  
"Where are you going?" Jareth asked him.   
  
"See if I can finds us some food. This route is longer then the ways we came. We'll need food."  
  
"Uggh don't talk about food." Sarah moaned, burying her face into Jareth's chest.   
  
"You don't feel well?" Hoggle asked her.  
  
"That's an understatement. I'm nauseous."  
  
"Ain't exactly nice down heres. To anyone who ain't used to the smell, that right there can do ya in. Clean air has a hard time getting down here."  
  
She nodded and Jareth looked at her with concern. He tried desperately to conceal his fear from her as she looked into his eyes.   
  
"I'll get some food anyhows. We may need it."  
  
"Thank you Hoggle." Jareth told him quietly. The dwarf's eyes widened at the words. The words came forth sounding so natural. "I honestly thought that you had abandoned me with that beast and in reality you went to find a distraction." Jareth looked at him hesitantly. "It's possible that you have saved my life as well as Sarah's and for that I am in your debt."  
  
Hoggle's mouth dropped and he stammered. "It..it...it weren't nuthin'.. I'll just a um go find some food." The dwarf retreated quickly as if Jareth's kind words were too much for him to handle.   
  
Sarah gazed up at Jareth, a smile forming on her lips. "Can it be that you and Hoggle are getting along?"  
  
"Don't hope for too much. We're not out of here just yet."   
  
She nodded, a wave of sickness gripping her and she closed her eyes tightly, burying her face into Jareth's neck. His hands touched her hair, running the silky dark locks through his fingers.   
  
"It's all my fault that you're sick. " He whispered so quietly she nearly missed the words. He sounded disgusted with himself and he pulled his hands from her hair quickly. She opened her eyes slowly. He suddenly seemed so distant.   
  
"Jareth, don't be foolish. It's not your fault I can't stomach the smell in here. I always had a weak stomach. It got worse after Ary was born." She joked but he didn't seem to think it was very funny. She reached for him and he pulled away from her. She frowned. "Jareth..."  
  
"Sarah don't.." he told her coldly. She drew away from him as if she had been burned. Her eyes filled with tears. She had spent nearly every second in that room, thinking about him, longing to be in his arms and now he was being so cold and distant with her.   
  
"Jareth what is wrong with you?" She demanded. She reached for him, looking past the cold mask. She knew the man beneath it and something was wrong with him. Something was hurting him and she had a sinking feeling that it wasn't the pain in his side that bothered him. He was trying to hide behind his mask. He was keeping something from her. "Jareth look at me....please."  
  
He turned his head slowly, the look in her eyes made his mask fall away and left behind in it's wake was the expression of a man who feared he would lose everything.   
  
"The grotesque smell is not what is making you feel ill..." His voice was shaky and Sarah tilted her head unsure of what he was saying. His hand rose over her, quivering in mid air as if he were frightened, or hesitant. It lowered and he let his palm rest gently against her stomach. She could feel the warmth of him through the flimsy silk of her dress. She gazed at him, a hundred questions in her hazel eyes.   
  
He took a deep breath and pulled her hands into his, slowly kissing each of them.   
  
"You feel under the weather because you are carrying my child..." 


	36. Ill timed but not unwanted...

AN: Hi everyone. First off to the new reviewers of course you can have a clone! (my they have been popular!) Second: I have a question to ask you all. Do you think that this story flows together well, like from chapter to chapter and am I dragging things out too long? I know this is my story and I tend to get very critical of myself. Third: I'm going to start working on a cast page for this story like I did for my other story. Does anyone know who I should use for a picture of Ary? I have looked everywhere online for a child actress or even a picture of a child around 8 years old who fits Ary's description. Anyone?   
  
Anne Marie: I've never been pregnant so I don't know exactly how things go but your question will be answered further along the way. I don't want to say too much now. You guys might be throwing some rotten peaches at me later on.   
  
Helen: Thanks for taking the time to review, despite being so busy. I know how hectic life can be. As long as you keep writing that story of yours, you'll be forgiven! ; ) lol Naw I'd forgive you anyway.   
  
Someone had asked what Artaygon looked like. I was imaging him to have long blond hair, a bit darker then Jareth's and not spiky. Long and pulled back into a ponytail. When Jareth had his illusion over himself in the mortal world he looked a tad bit like Artaygon because his blond hair was pulled back. Also Art has blue eyes, and I imagine his skin color is darker then Jareth's. he's not quite so pale. He's tall and wears clothes similar to the ones that Jareth does.   
  
Ok on with the story.   
  
Ill timed but not unwanted....  
  
Sarah blinked and the silence that settled between them was deafening. She looked into Jareth's eyes, wondering if this was a joke, but his expression was serious and in the depths of his mismatched orbs she could see his fear.   
  
Sarah licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. She looked down noticing Jareth's hand still on her stomach. It made sense of why she felt sick. How had she not known about the child forming inside of her? She had been pregnant before, knew how things went. Her weak stomach had been what had alerted her to being pregnant the first time around. Although the last day's events had given her little time to think about why she felt ill.   
  
Jareth noticed her gaze and quickly pulled his hand away. He looked lost, frightened, wary. She was being so quiet. He needed to hear something...anything from her.   
  
"How...." Her voice echoed through the silent tunnel. "How could that have happened when you used magic on me?"  
  
Jareth's expression was extremely apologetic. "The last time...I was so caught up in what we were doing..." his voice trailed off softly.   
  
"You forgot about the magic." She finished for him. He nodded. He had made an innocent mistake.  
  
"I've ruined everything..." He told her softly. His voice was full of agony.   
  
"No you haven't. How could you say that?" She reached out to touch his face and he let his cheek fall into the palm of her hand.   
  
"Sarah you don't understand...Aryanna has not made her decision yet. "  
  
"What has Ary's decision got to do with this?"  
  
"Everything! If she decides she wants to return, you can not join her. I've condemned you here by an act that was meant in love. She will not understand and she will hate me for it."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"Sarah the child that grows within you is a part of me. I'm a creature of magic and I need to be an environment where magic is present to survive. My time spent in the Above ground with you was pushing the limits of the time I can spend away from magic. The child you carry has magic, is a part of magic. The child will need to be surrounded by magic to develop properly. Which means that you must remain in the Labyrinth until this child is born. If Ary doesn't want to be here, she will not understand. She may grow to dislike me for keeping you from her."  
  
"Jareth, it isn't a surprise that I want to stay here with you. You told me I could still see Toby if I stayed, could still travel above ground when ever I wished. Those things have not changed, have they?"  
  
"Besides the fact that you must remain here for the length of the pregnancy, nothing else has changed. After the child is born you could return Aboveground." There was fear in his eyes. Fear he wasn't trying to hold back from her. He was afraid she would have the child and leave him.   
  
"Then everything will be all right."  
  
He exploded, his nerves frayed "Everything is not all right! Has it slipped your mind that you are carrying my child? I swore to protect you from that until it was the right time. I failed you!"  
  
Sarah tilted her head and gazed deeply into his anguished eyes. "Do you love me?"  
  
"By the bog Sarah, I love you more then anything...you know that."  
  
She reached for his hand and positioned it over her stomach, laying her own hand on top of his. "And I love you. Which means that this child was created from our love for one another and that is the way it's meant to be." She smiled sweetly at Jareth who could not believe how calmly she was taking this all. He felt as if he had ruined her life.   
  
"I will talk to Ary. She seems to love this place and if she doesn't...I know my brother. He would be willing to look after her and make sure that she goes to school while we figure everything out." She smoothed the soft pale skin of his hand that still remained on her flat stomach. She would not look pregnant for weeks or months. "She has always wanted a brother or sister. I have the feeling she will want to stay when she realizes how much we love each other." Jareth still looked hesitant, somewhat fearful.   
  
"She was the one who summoned you Jareth. She was the one who knew in her heart that it was you who made me happy. She has seen how happy I've been since you returned to my life, Just as Toby has seen it. She's 8 years old but she's a smart kid. She knows that right now this is the closest I've ever been to knowing complete happiness and that you are the closest thing to a father she will ever know. She may be frightened, unsure of what she feels, but in time she will figure things out. "I'll talk to her. Things have changed and I'll need to make her understand."  
  
"We will both talk to her. This is not just your problem. I was involved."  
  
She reached out to stroke his face. "Not a problem. " She shook her head. "Not a mistake, or an error, but a change in plans. We'll both need to help Ary understand. If she doesn't or can't....I know Toby would take care of her." She lowered her hand from his face, moved her face so that he could not see her saddened expression. "She could still visit me, I could still visit her."  
  
"But Sarah.." he took her chin into his hand, turned her to face him and cupped her face into his hands. "I do not want to break up your family. I couldn't live with myself if I did that."  
  
"Jareth you haven't done that. You brought my family closer together by bringing happiness in our lives."  
  
'But the child...."  
  
"Was created by both of us because of our love for one another. There is no one at fault, no one to blame. The child was created by love."  
  
'But it is my fault, I failed to use my magic... I failed to protect you...even here." He gestured helplessly to their surroundings. " Gorgin took you from me so easily. And had it not been for Hoggle, I fear I would still be wandering the tunnels in search of you. I am nothing without my magic and that....that scares me Sarah. How can I protect you, protect Ary, this child, my kingdom?"  
  
She lightly ran a finger down his cheek. "You understand what it means to be human when you don't have your magic. I'm human, I don't have magic, yet I still thrive." He still didn't understand it, he looked upset and angry with himself. "Jareth, I don't love you because you have magic. I love you because you make me smile, you make me feel wonderful things that no one else has ever made me feel. I wouldn't give a damn if you didn't have magic. So you forgot to put the spell on me, we made love and now I'm carrying your child. You can't always control a pregnancy. Do you think that I think any less of you because you made an honest mistake, because you acted in the way a human would?" He gave no answer, only looked away from her. "Do you?"  
  
"I don't know..." His voice was still full of anguish and she needed him to understand that she was not upset with this. This was ill timed, but not unwanted.   
  
"Well I'll tell you. I don't think any less of you because of that. Was this a bit of a surprise to me? Yeah sure, but it's not an unwelcome surprise. Do you know what I was thinking about, the morning after we made love for the first time?" She gazed into his eyes, a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.  
  
"Tell me."  
  
"I was thinking about carrying your baby."   
  
His brows arched up over his eyes. "Seriously?"  
  
"Yes. I was thinking that if I ever had another child, the only child I would ever carry would be yours or I wouldn't carry another at all."  
  
"You thought that?"  
  
"Yes. Jareth I love you more then any man who has entered my life. To give birth to the Goblin King's first child would be more than an honor."  
  
Jareth was beaming as the reality of this all hit him. His first child. He had taken many children in his years as Goblin King, held many of them, sang to many, but the child growing within Sarah was his child. His heir, his babe. A creation of his love for the woman beside him.   
  
Jareth grinned, his sharp teeth showing and he pulled Sarah to him, hugging her fiercely. "It's an honor for you to be the mother of my first child...my precious Sarah." He kissed her hair.   
  
A small figure watched from the shadows, just down the narrow hallway. There was surprise in his eyes, at the news of Sarah carrying the Goblin King's child, but there was happiness as well. He smiled a toothy smile and continued on his way to find food.   
  
She hugged Jareth back and he winced, pulling back slightly.   
  
"Oh Jareth, I'm so sorry. I hurt you."  
  
"It will pass." He attempted a smile. She had not truly hurt him, but had made his heart swell with love and joy. She was honored to carry his child just as he was honored for her to be the mother and she was not upset about the ill timed news.  
  
"Let me look." She pulled his shirt from the waistband of his pants. He made a face but allowed her to unbutton his white shirt. She reached the last few buttons and the shirt fell slowly to his sides. She gasped. "Oh Jareth, what happened?" He glanced down to see the damage. Two large purple bruises had formed on his right side. Two bruises, each in the shape of the toe of a boot.   
  
"Gorgin..." was all he said as she carefully traced the out edges of the bruises. He drew air in through his teeth as she lightly traced the edges of the bruises and she pulled her fingers away.   
  
"What did he do to you?"  
  
"He kicked me."  
  
"But why?" Concern marred her beautiful features.   
  
"Because I said things he didn't want to hear." He drew in a sharp breath when she lightly kissed the bruised skin. "I think I may have a broken rib." He announced.   
  
She started buttoning his shirt back up. "We need to get you to Meg."  
  
"I'll live." He reached a hand out to cradle her face into his palm.   
  
"Why did he kidnap me Jareth? Why did he hurt you?"  
  
Jareth sighed deeply. "Do you remember what I told you about Artaygon? How he lost his Kingdom?"  
  
"He was betrayed."  
  
"Yes, by the woman who claimed to love him and by his brother....Gorgin."  
  
"Gorgin is his brother?"  
  
Jareth nodded. "And he hasn't changed his ways. He has his heart set on my kingdom. He was banished from his own when it was learned that he was behind the murder of his brother. His powers were stripped from him and he's wandered about from kingdom to kingdom as a highwayman, a thief, a mercenary. When he learned of your arrival in the Labyrinth he saw his window of opportunity to take my land. He tried to use you as a bargaining tool, a weakness that would make me sign over my kingdom."  
  
Sarah looked at him seriously. "Jareth if something happens and we don't make it out of here together, if Gorgin gets a hold of me, you must promise me that you will not sign your land to him."  
  
"Sarah..."  
  
"Promise me."  
  
He shook his head. "I can't do that. If he has you and I don't sign, he will kill you." He gently let his fingers glide over her stomach. "And in doing so he will also kill our child."  
  
Sarah blinked, forgetting for a moment about the child that she carried. She realized that in trying to make Jareth promise her, she was condemning her life and the life of their unborn child to death.   
  
"I forgot about the baby." She admitted softly.  
  
He leaned over slowly and caught her lips with his own. "I know you did, and I know that you were trying to save my kingdom by offering yourself, a very noble thing for you to do. But you must realize from here until the day our child is born that you can't take any unnecessary risks."  
  
"Are you going to start acting like an over protective father now?" She teased.   
  
"Not only am I going to act like an overprotective father but an overprotective lover and if everything works out with Aryanna and you both decide to stay....I'll be an overprotective husband as well."  
  
Sarah pulled back, her eyes wide. Jareth grinned devilishly. "Whether you were carrying my child or not, my desires have not changed Sarah. I still want you to be my queen." His grin faded and his expression became serious. "I still wish to spend forever with you..."  
  
She smiled, reaching out to touch his pale face. She leaned forward to kiss his lips and he met her kiss with one of his own.   
  
"This tunnel's an escape route, not a place to get all mushy." Came a grumpy voice.  
  
Sarah and Jareth pulled back to see Hoggle standing with a large amount of roots and some sort of plant. Jareth grinned at the dwarf and pulled Sarah to him, giving her another kiss. "This tunnel will be whatever I want it to be."   
  
Sarah smacked him lightly and peered curiously at the plants that Hoggle held. "What do you have there Hoggle?"  
  
"Something for us to snacks on along the way."  
  
"How could plants grow down here without sunlight?"  
  
"Ancient magic..." Hoggle told her. "You both rested enough to move again?"  
  
Sarah was feeling much better and she looked at Jareth. She reached to brush back a few stray locks of blond hair that were dangling over his eyes. "Are you ready to travel?" he nodded and she helped him to his feet.   
  
Hoggle took the torch from its place on the wall started to lead the way. Jareth and Sarah remained behind for a moment more. Jareth lowered his lips to hers for a quick but passionate kiss.   
  
"I saws that!" Hoggle called from further down the hall.   
  
Jareth grinned, his sharp teeth revealed. "Then he saw this too." Jareth told Sarah and he kissed her again. He put an arm around her and they went off in the direction Hoggle had traveled. 


	37. Loss and Revenge...

AN: Hello everyone. This chapter will be it until Monday. I have to work all day tomorrow. Thank you everyone for the continued reviews and for answering my questions from last chapter. Anyone know who I could use as a model for Aryanna? I'd like to begin working on my cast page soon. I have however started a small website dedicated to J/S. It's pretty bare right now as it's in the early stages. http://www.geocities.com/jareth_sarah/ I'm looking for contributions for the page. I hope to have a really nice image gallery up. I have some rarer pictures of Jareth and ones of him and Sarah that I'd like to put up. I'm also looking for links to people's favorite J/S stories so that they can be added once I have the page up and running. I'll take txt or html format files of stories too and hope to make a J/S fan fiction archive. There eventually will be a message board as well. Let me stop babbling so you can read. I hope you don't all kill me for the content of this chapter. But it was thought up long ago and is not a last minute curve to the story.

Loss and Revenge…

Megmora watched over the child as she slept. She was sleeping quite peacefully despite her small fit of anger only a few hours earlier. Where could the King be? Why had he not returned with the child's mother? Closing her eyes, Megmora concentrated her powers, trying to search the Labyrinth and the Underground for any trace of the King for his mortal lover. She was about to give up when she a feeling of contentment found it's way into her mind. Far beneath the surface…there was a feeling of momentary peace. She could barely feel the presence in her mind and as quickly as she felt it, it vanished. The ancient magic of the tunnels was too strong for her, even for her old magic and she lost the presence. Despite this she smiled and gazed down at the child, curled into a ball protectively around her teddy bear. 

"Ssshe is sssafe child. Sshe isss sssafe with him." 

* * * 

The walk was becoming tiresome, but the trio pushed on. 

"I don't remember it taking quite this long to get to the bottom." Jareth told Hoggle. To him it felt like he had been walking for days. The pain in his side was great and Sarah knew that he was suffering. He couldn't use his magic to hide his pain. 

"I tolds ya. This route is longer, but it's safer. What cha want, to be eaten by them beasts or have a longer more but safe walk out?"

"I'll take the long safe route, thank you very much." Sarah said coming to stop beside Jareth. Sweat had broken on her brow and she looked exhausted. 

"Hoggle how about those roots?" Jareth asked him. "Sarah needs some nourishment."

"Jareth, I'm fine. The less times we have to stop to rest and to snack, the faster we can get the hell out of here."

"Sarah, you're exhausted and I'm sure that you are hungry as well. You've had nothing to eat since breakfast yesterday morning."

"Yesterday? I was in that room for an entire day?"

"Yes, my love. You need food and if we could find some water. You should rest as well."

"Jareth stop fussing over me, ok? I'm fine. I'm not hungry and I would like to get the hell out of here."

"Sarah…all this traveling is not good for your condition."

'My condition? Please don't even start with me! I'm not fragile, I'm not going to break if I take a walk through some tunnels. For god sakes I've only been pregnant for 4 or 5 days the most…" She stopped suddenly realizing that Hoggle was with them. He didn't know about the pregnancy, and she didn't want to shock the dwarf anymore then he already he been. She wasn't sure if he had come to terms with Sarah's relationship with Jareth, never mind shocking him with the news that she was carrying Jareth's baby.

"Hoggle…" She looked apologetic. 

He waved his hand at her. "It's all rights, I already knows about the baby."

"You do? But how?"

"I heard ya both talkin bout it."

"Hoggle you have to promise me you won't mention this to anyone. I'd like it if you kept the entire thing to yourself." Jareth looked extremely hurt by her words. 

"I can keeps a secret."

"Thank you. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to keep going. I want out of this place." Hoggle nodded and began to walk away, Sarah in step behind him. But Jareth stood, leaning against a wall heavily. She spun to face him. "You coming or not?"

He nodded slowly and walked to her side. "You don't wish anyone to know that you carry my child? Are you suddenly ashamed? You just told me that you were honored to-"

"I am honored Jareth, but I don't want this getting to my little girl before we can both sit down and explain our actions." He nodded feeling a but more relieved and he followed her and Hoggle. 

They traveled on for hours, stopping occasionally to sit and rest and then push on more. Jareth's condition was growing steadily worse and the relief was clearly seen when they finally reached the entrance to the tunnels. 

'I can feel my magic again." Jareth told them. "We should get back to the castle before Gorgin realizes that we have escaped to the outside. 

Hoggle started walking away.

"Where are you going Hoggle?" Sarah asked. 

"Back to the woods. I done what I could. Time for me to go now."

"Hoggle you don't have to leave. In fact you're more then welcome to stay at my castle." The Goblin King offered. 

The dwarf shook his head. "Thank for the offer, but no thanks. I've always been a loner, would rather go back to the woods or the gates at the beginning of the Labyrinth." He shuffled off. 

"Thank you Hoggle! For everything!" Sarah cried after him. He stopped to turn and smiled before shuffling off again towards the woods. 

"He always was a strange little man." Jareth told Sarah.

"Not as strange as you…The Goblin King who has suddenly decided to care. You've turned soft Jareth." came a cold voice. 

Jareth spun to see Gorgin and a few dozen of his henchmen just behind them. 

"I don't know how you managed to get through without being seen by even one of the guardians, but if you think I will let you both escape so easily, you are so very wrong." His movement was lightning fast and in seconds he had Sarah gripped tightly in his grasp. She struggled and he only gripped her tighter. He would have the Goblin King's Kingdom and he would take it by force if he had to. The woman was the key to his victory.

Jareth's expression was that of raw anger. He pulled forth a crystal, balancing it carefully on his fingertips. Gorgin saw him draw it, knew what this meant and threw Sarah backward in the direction of his henchmen. She hit the ground extremely hard. Gorgin faced the Goblin King and drew a long bladed sword. So the Goblin King wanted to fight? He would give him one.

Jareth wanted to engage Gorgin in battle but he was more concerned about Sarah. She was lying in a crumpled heap, barely moving. With a flick of his wrist he tossed a second crystal at her. The crystal shattered above her head and sparkling dust fell over her. Gorgin's men rushed towards her to get her before Jareth's magic could, but she was already gone. Gorgin spun angrily back to Jareth, but he was gone as well. The dark haired man clenched his fists and threw his sword angrily at the ground.

"This is far from over Goblin King!!!!! FAR FROM OVER!!!!" 

They materialized just outside of Ary's bedroom. Sarah was crumpled over on the floor just as she had been on the ground when Gorgin had thrown her to draw his sword. 

"Sarah!" Jareth rushed to her and helped pull her to her feet slowly. "Are you all right?"

She nodded slowly, ignoring the growing pain within her. He pulled her tightly to him.

Megmora's head jerked up from dozing off and she quickly got to her feet. The King was back, with the mortal woman. She could sense their presence right outside the door! "Child, wake up! They are back!" She gently shook Ary who awakened right away and rubbed her sleepy eyes. 

"What's wrong Meg?"

"They're back!" 

"Mommy's back?" Meg nodded and she and the child ran to the door. 

Sarah and Jareth were standing in the hallway embraced in each other's arms. Neither of them wanted to let the other go. 

"Mommy!" Sarah turned her head to see Ary rushing at her. Meg had made sure she was dressed her in nightgown and the dragon had probably fed her supper and tucked her in as it was late in the evening. Sarah smiled and nodded her head in appreciation to the dragon who smiled in return.

Sarah left Jareth's embrace and bent to hug her daughter when pain suddenly filled her abdomen. She doubled over and let out a cry. 

"Sarah?" Jareth's concerned voice echoed through the hall. He rushed to her and pulled her into her arms. She was clutching her stomach, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Bring her into the room..Hurry!" Megmora told him. Jareth did as he was instructed, a sudden fear consuming him. 

"Mommy?" Aryanna was frightened. Her mother was back and something was wrong with her. She quietly followed Jareth and Meg into her room.

Jareth gently laid Sarah down on Aryanna's bed. Megmora was instantly by her side. "Out." She ordered the King.

'I'm not leaving her." Jareth told the healer. 

"I sssaid out! I can't do my job if you're hovering over her. Both of you out!" She ushered both Jareth and Aryanna out of the room and closed the door behind her. 

Jareth immediately started to pace in the hallway and Aryanna sat herself in a large oak chair with a red velvet cushion. She was terribly confused. She bit her lip and swung her legs back and forth beneath the chair. Her eyes focused on Jareth who was pacing back and forth in front of her. His steps quickened. He heard Sarah cry out from within the room and he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide with terror. Ary stopped swinging her legs and watched him. 

Sarah was crying within the room, Megmora was trying to comfort her. Jareth stood frozen in place as he listened. Something was not right. He felt himself trembling with fear of the unknown. 

It was several minutes later that the door to the room opened. "Mommy?" Ary asked hopefully.

Megmora stepped slowly from the room. The look on her face made Jareth's blood freeze. "Meg….?"

She spoke to him softly in a language that Ary didn't know. A look of pain briefly flit across the Goblin King's handsome face but seconds later pure anger reared its ugly face. The Goblin King turned from the dragon and child and took his anger out on a piece of sculpture nearby. He threw it to the ground and it shattered all over the stone floor. Ary shrank back in her chair. She had never seen him so angry and it frightened her. His eyes were so very cold, so angry. He looked nothing like the man who had tucked her into bed so many times, the man who had told her stories and helped her with her spelling homework. 

He was trembling he was so mad, his hands clenching and then releasing over and over again. Ary had never been scared of him, but at this moment she never felt more terrorized in all of her life. She hid herself in the shadows fearful he might take his anger out on her and hit her or who knows what else. 

Megmora spoke to him again in her tongue and Jareth answered back in English. "I will not calm down!!!" he cried out. "By the Bog she's been through enough misery!!! We both have!!!" he roared. "This isn't fair.." he let out a bit more softly. 

"Ssshe needss you right now…you can not enter the room like thisss." She gestured at his state and then let her yellow eyes focus on the white marble pedestal and the statue of a centaur that now lay broken and scattered all over the floor. Jareth took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. 

"I have taken away the physssical pain, but the mental… Ssshe needss comfort that only you can give her…"

He swallowed looking at the open door and he walked toward it slowly. He stopped before entering, took a shuddering breath and then carefully shut the door behind him as he entered.

Sarah was lying on her side, sobbing into the soft pillows of her daughter's bed, her dark hair cascading all around her. Jareth's shoulders dropped, his eyes filled with sorrow and anguish, his knees felt as if they were going to give way. He moved quickly to the bed for fear he would fall onto the floor before he made it there. 

Sarah saw him and she fell into his open arms the minute they were close enough to her. Jareth fell upon his knees on the soft sheets and pulled her into his arms. He buried his face into her hair as she sobbed against him, clutching him to her. Tears filled his mismatched eyes and he lost it, broke down with her, sobbing like a child. He had not cried for hundreds of years, Kings did not cry. They did not lose control. But tonight he cried, for the loss of his best friend over one hundred years ago, for 20 years alone without Sarah, for allowing his life to go without love for so long. He buried his face into her neck and sobbed for the lost life of their unborn child… 

Meg's words echoed in his mind over and over again as he clutched Sarah to him. "I'm sssorry Your Majessty….….sshe lossst the child..Ssshe misssscarried. Posssibly the ssstresss of the journey…the timing…it could have been anything…" She had offered lamely, so he would understand.

Outside the room Megmora held Aryanna who was thoroughly confused at what was going on. Sarah's sobs could be heard in the hallway as well as the sobs of the Goblin King. Ary held on tightly to Meg who lifted the child into her arms. The King's sobs pierced the dragon's heart. He was always a strong man and now he was lost and broken. Although Meg had never heard the Goblin King voice the words aloud, she knew that he loved the baby already, just as he loved the mortal woman who carried it. He loved both with all of his heart. It had been difficult to tell him. And the mortal woman…she loved the child. Had already formed a bond with it, even though she did not yet know it. The loss was equally devastating to her as well.

Jareth held Sarah until she had cried herself out. She was exhausted from traveling the tunnels and now this. How much more could she take? How much more punishment, anguish, loss, despair could she take before she broke down completely. How much more could he take? He laid her back gently on the bed. She'd fallen asleep in his arms. Tears stained cheeks gazed back at him and he felt something inside of him snap. She had been fine until Gorgin had captured her and fine until Gorgin had thrown her to the ground to engage him in battle. He got up off the bed and cast one last look at Sarah pulling the blankets over her before he left the room. 

Meg was rocking Ary gently in her arms. The child was just beginning to fall asleep when the door flew open and Jareth came storming out. There was raw anger in every step he took. 

"Where are you going?" Megmora asked him. She stood, balancing Ary in her arms and glanced worriedly at the King who was trembling with his fury. 

"To call out the guards, gather an army." He said angrily.

"An army my lord?" Was he serious?

"I want you to remain with Sarah and Aryanna at all times. Is that understood?"

"Ye-yesss your Majesssty, but an army?"

Jareth spun at her his cape whirling around him. Ary clutched Megmora tightly. "He took my child from me before it was born, made Sarah and myself go through more unnecessary pain! I'm putting a bounty on his head! I don't care if he's brought to me dead or alive! I'll have every hunter in the underground looking for him while I gather an army. If they don't find him, I will! He kidnapped her and is the probable cause of the death of my heir to the throne! I won't rest until he's my prisoner or until he's dead!" 

"Your injuriessss my lord?" She could sense his physical pain. Something had happened to him within the tunnels. Pain that he was trying to hide and shield from others and himself with his magic. She wanted to stall him so that he would come to his senses, so that he would stay with Sarah and with Aryanna who right now was terribly afraid of him.

"Are nothing…protect Sarah and Ary with your life until I return." He turned and fled quickly down the hall, his cape trailing behind him. 

Ary began to cry softly. And Meg tried to soothe her. "Why is he so angry? Why is he going to kill someone?"

Meg regarded the child, who gazed up at her with large hazel eyes and tears that streamed down her pale face. "The man who took your mother, hurt her and the King. He hasss taken sssomething from them both that can not be replaced. King Jareth wantsss to make sssure that he can not harm your mother, you or himssself ever again."

"What did he take?"

"I'd best leave that up to your mother and the King to disscusss with you. Come now…let uss ssstay with your mother. Ssshe will need comfort." The dragon glanced briefly down the hall in the direction the Goblin King had gone. She hoped that he knew what he was doing and that he was aware of the damage he had already done.


	38. Priorities...

AN: Thank you for the reviews everyone. I hope that you all had a good weekend. Mine was very good. My computer didn't break down on me and neither did my truck. : ) *does a happy dance * Well here is the next chapter. Enjoy.

Priorities…

Sarah opened her eyes slowly and she immediately felt a sense of loss. It wasn't very strong at first but as she lay gazing up at the ceiling the loss grew until it overwhelmed her. She began to sob and started to choke on her tears. She thought it had been a bad dream but she knew from what she felt that it was not a dream but reality. She had miscarried only a few days after she had become pregnant. She had lost Jareth's child… 

She had not missed Jareth's angry display in the hall. She had heard him break something before he had entered the room. He had entered and the look on his face was pure anguish. He had pulled her into his arms. She sobbed louder as the memory of Jareth sobbing with her added to her misery. She had never heard Jareth cry. She had seen him overwhelmed by powerful emotions of sorrow but she had never heard him cry. He was too proud to cry, too arrogant. 

"Ssssssh." Sarah gazed through tear filled eyes to see Megmora. The dragon was trying to comfort her. Her daughter was beside the dragon. 

"Don't cry mommy. Jareth went to get the bad man." Aryanna told her.

"What?"

'Jareth went to get the bad man who hurt you mommy."

Sarah was suddenly sitting straight up in her bed. "He didn't?" She glanced worriedly at the dragon. "Meg, please tell me he didn't go after Gorgin." She knew that Jareth was upset, surely he had not gone alone after Gorgin to vent his anger, his frustration, his loss.

"I'm ssssorry Lady Sssarah. The King did go after him, but not alone. He isss raisssing an army. He hass put a bounty on hiss head and will capture him if huntersss do not."

"Why is he going after Gorgin? We escaped. We're safe, we're free."

"He believesss he is the causse of your… of both of your pain thisss day."

"But this is my fault! I'm the one who miscarried! I'm the one who lost the baby!" She shouted. 

"What baby, mommy?" Ary asked. She crawled onto the bed beside her mother , her hazel eyes wide with wonderment. 

Sarah pulled her into her arms, stroking her long dark hair. "Oh sweetie….You were going to have a brother or a sister…but mommy lost the baby."

"A brother or sister? Is that what the bad man took from you mommy? Is that what he took from Jareth?"

Sarah suddenly began to sob all over again. Ary hugged her mother tightly. "Please don't cry mommy. You haven't cried in so long. Don't cry about the baby." Ary's caring words made her sob more and she buried her face into her daughter's soft hair. Sarah stopped sobbing after a short while and just held her daughter. 

"My lady…you are tired from your journey through the tunnelsss. It would be wisse for you to resst and eat sssomething." Megmora tried to tell her. 

Sarah shook her head. "I'm not hungry, and I couldn't sleep if I tried. I have too much on my mind." She lowered her face back into Ary's hair and rocked her daughter in her arms. Megmora watched, a feeling of worry eating at her.

"Mommy I'm scared." Ary whispered quietly as she clutched onto her mother. 

"Of what sweetie?"

"Jareth…." She said so softly Sarah had to strain to hear her. 

Sarah pulled back to gaze into her daughter's face. "Of Jareth?" Ary nodded. Sarah suddenly looked very worried. "Why are you frightened of Jareth? What did he do?"

"He broke a statue mommy and he said he wanted the bad man dead. He stormed off down the hallway. Is he going to hurt us Mommy? Is he? Like daddy hurt us?"

Sarah hugged her daughter tightly. "I don't think so sweetie. Jareth loves us." 

"But what if he does? Mommy I don't want him to hurt you like daddy hurt you. He has a bad temper and uncle Toby said that people with bad tempers take it out on other people, even if they don't mean it. Jareth has a temper and I'm afraid he will take it out on us. I want to go home mommy. I'm afraid." She clutched her mother tightly. 

Sarah cringed as Jareth's words from an earlier conversation echoed in mind. _'One day I am going to lose my temper and she may see it. I would never direct my full fury at her. But she will see it. And what will she think of me? She might hate me, might be frightened of me….' _

Sarah gazed directly into Ary's eyes and held her shoulders. "Sweetie, we all have tempers. Jareth would never take things out on you or me. He loves us both very much. He is upset right now. Ary do you understand about the baby?"

"Someone wished away another baby didn't they? And you and Jareth were going to keep it and it was going to be my brother or sister, right? It was wished it away and the bad man stole it from you and Jareth."

Sarah shook her head. Her daughter was known to have a runaway imagination. "No Ary. Mommy was going to HAVE a baby. I was pregnant." Ary's eyes widened. She spoke her next words softly and slowly. "Jareth was the father of the baby. Do you understand?"

Ary nodded slowly. "How did the bad man take the baby mommy? Did you have it already and I missed your big belly? Kelly's mommy has a big belly because she is going to have a baby and-"

'No no…" Sarah shook her head. Ary was beginning to ramble. ". Something happened and mommy lost the baby. It didn't develop properly and …I never had the chance to get a big belly. Jareth thinks that this was Gorgin's fault but it's my fault." tears began to stream down her face. "…I lost it." Sarah began to sob again and Ary hugged her. 

'Don't cry mommy. I'm here. I'll always be your baby." At her daughter's words Sarah broke down. 

Megmora rose from her chair by the bed, with a heavy heart and left the room.

* * * 

"I don't care if they have shops to run, I need my guards. Tell their wives or their children to run the shops for a few days!" He shouted loudly. "And I want the posters for his arrest drawn up and posted with in the city by this afternoon."

"Begging your pardon yer majesty but that's imposs-"

'I don't want to hear your excuses! Get it done now!" Jareth roared and snapped his fingers. The goblin disappeared from the room in a flash of light.

Soft padded footsteps were approaching and Jareth spun to see Megmora standing in the entranceway to his throne room. 

"I thought I asked you to stay with Sarah and Ary!? Why are you disobeying me!?"

Megmora bowed her head. " I have newsss of the lady Sarah…"

"What of her?" Jareth's heart was suddenly racing at the mention of Sarah's name. He was trying to forget about what had happened, what Gorgin had done to himself and to Sarah. He had tried to busy himself with preparations all that morning, but it was useless. All he could see, all he could hear was Sarah sobbing. All he could think about was that she had miscarried because of a greedy bastard who had wanted his kingdom. Gorgin would face the Goblin King's full fury for taking his child. 

"Ssshe is blaming hersself for the losss of the child, my lord. Ssshe will not eat, will not resst herself. Sshe is exhaussted but she will not ssleep." Meg paused and looked Jareth directly in the eyes. "Ssshe needsss you to comfort her."

Jareth turned from his healer , hiding his pained expression from her. "I don't have time. I have an army to finish preparing…a man to arrest."

'Don't have time?" There was anger in the dragon's voice. "Do you wissssh to losse her? Do you wisssh to losse her child?" Jareth's brows furrowed at her words. Megmora had her opinions but she rarely spoke out against him. "The child iss frightened of you becausse of your disssplay in the hallway. Sshe wantss to go home. Ssshe will need reasssurrance that you ssstill love her. And Lady Sssarah iss falling into despair. I've seen it happen to many. I know when it will happen and sahe iss falling. If you want to catch her before sshe hitss rock bottom you had better do something. What iss more important to you, getting even with an enemy or lossing the oness you love?"

Jareth gazed at the dragon who was standing taller then usual. There was anger in her eyes and carefully hidden beneath it was concern and Jareth felt fear take over his body once again. 

* * * 

Ary was sleeping peacefully on her bed. The servants had brought her lunch and she had fallen asleep after eating. Sarah had not touched a single thing on the plate. She didn't want to eat, didn't care if she ever ate again. 

She was standing at the window, her bare feet on the cold stone floor. She was in a loose fitting silk nightgown that nearly touched the floor. It was growing later in the afternoon and she vaguely wondered where Megmora had gotten off to. Not that it mattered much. She felt empty, as if a piece of her was gone and a hole was all that remained. In truth she had lost a part of herself and a part of Jareth as well. Tears welled in her eyes and for a brief moment she tried to force them back. She was tired of crying, but she was so weak that they fell anyway. She leaned over onto the windowsill, burying her face into her hands as sobs wracked her body. 

Warm hands touched her and pulled her to stand upright. Then they turned her to face their owner. Still sobbing she gazed into Jareth's mismatched eyes. He pulled her into his arms. 

'I lost our baby.." she sobbed against him.

"Ssssh. Stop this Sarah. You have to stop this." 

Ary opened her eyes and remained quiet on the bed. She watched Jareth hold her mother, trying to soothe her with his soft words. 

'I lost the baby…I lost the baby…" she kept repeating. 

"Sarah, stop it! It's not your fault."

'But I'm the one who carried it, I'm the one who lost it!"

He pulled back from her and shook her slightly. He lowered his head, gazing into her eyes. "It..is …not…your …fault." He told her slowly. 

She collapsed against him. "She wants to go home…." She sobbed clutching his white shirt into her hands, changing the subject from bad to worse. 

Jareth gently stroked her hair with his bare hands. "Who wants to go home…?" His voice was painfully soft. Sarah didn't miss the fear in his tone. 

"Ary…she wants to go home…she's frightened…" Jareth froze. Meg had warned him, but he thought that perhaps it had been merely that, a warning. 

"Did…did she say that?"

"Yes!" Sarah sobbed. "I don't want to go…I want to stay with you…" She clutched him so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Jareth held her to him. She was losing it, breaking down and if he didn't control himself he would break down with her. But he had to be strong for her, needed to be her anchor in this terrible storm. 

Ary slowly brought the blanket over her head slowly, quietly, leaving a small hole that she could peek out of. She quickly closed her eyes when she saw Jareth beginning to turn his head toward the bed that she laid upon. Seeing that the child was sleeping beneath the blankets, Jareth replied. 

"I don't want you to leave Sarah. I don't want Ary to leave. I want you both to stay with me. I want to rid the Underground of the man who took our child from us so that it will be a safer place for you, for Ary, for our future child. I want you to rule beside me. I want that happily ever after I told you about when we walked on the beach." He started to kiss her hair. "I can't survive without you…without Ary. I need you both in my life. I am incomplete without you."

Sarah pulled back, tears streaming down her beautiful face. "But you frightened her Jareth, made her unsure and now she wants to leave!"

"I was foolish…so foolish in the hallway. She saw my anger….I let it get the better of me." He let his face fall into her hair, his voice full of fear. 'I have no idea how I will shake that fear from her…" He pulled back looking into her eyes. "She saw the truth of who I can be. She should have been warned that I have a temper, but that I would never take it out on her. She must be so frightened of me…It is I who has ruined everything. I couldn't control my temper." His eyes were full of anguish, heartache written clearly all over his handsome face. 

She reached up to stroke his face with the back of her fingers. He looked like a frightened child. He could not hide his fear from her, a fear that she felt along with him. She was so afraid that after all they had gone through, they would not be together. It had taken her 20 years to find the other half of her soul…the thought of losing him was more then she could bear. She fell against him and he held her tightly in his arms, kissing her hair and stroking her back. They both were aware that Ary would be making her decision soon. A decision they had not even been able to fully explain to her.

The Goblin King rocked his Sarah in the dying light of day, unwilling to let go of her. Neither of them aware of a pair of hazel eyes that watched them curiously through a space in the blanket of the bed.


	39. Mature beyond her years....

AN: Hello everyone. I dare say that the end is in sight. No this isn't the last chapter but I think it may be coming up soon. I feel like I am writing a novel. Yikes almost 40 chapters and eek look at all the reviews! 4 hundred and 81 of 'em as I post this. Give yourselves a big pat on the back for being such wonderful, dedicated readers and reviewers!!! Jareth clones to all my reviewers and cake too!

Mature beyond her years….

"What am I going to do Sarah?" he pulled back from her slowly and ran a hand through his wild blond hair. "What if she can't find it in her heart to forgive me? I don't know what will happen to me if I lose you… if I lose her." His eyes were full of fear and it was very unsettling to her. Not very much could shake the Goblin King, yet the mere thought of losing Sarah seemed to throw him into an emotional tailspin. She had great power over him. 

"Jareth even if Ary decides that she wants to return home, I could visit anytime, just as you would have let Toby visit us here anytime." She reached up to touch his face gently as she had earlier. "All would not be lost. " 

"How could we live like that Sarah? Going back and forth from your world to mine?" He gripped her shoulders. She could feel the tension in his touch. " We could never have a family. We could never live our lives the way we want to." His voice rose in frustration. 

"Keep your voice down. Ary is sleeping." She ordered.

Her concern faded when she felt a warmth embrace her and they reappeared in Jareth's chambers. She gazed around at her surroundings. It felt like so long ago that she had been in here. Weeks worth of chaos, pain, joy, had taken place in a few short days. 

Jareth took to pacing the length of his large room so Sarah settled at the end of his bed, allowing herself to rest comfortably on the soft mattress. She brushed her fingers over the blanket and despite everything that had happened in the last few days, despite the future looking uncertain, she smiled. Memories of lying in Jareth's warm embrace the morning after they had made love drifted through her mind. 

Jareth continued to pace. A sound startled her and her smile faded. She looked up to see that Jareth suddenly had a riding crop in his hands. He was pacing back and forth and tapping the crop against his thigh. His head was bowed down as he walked, his blond hair hanging in his face. The only sounds in the room were the tap of the crop against his leg and the sound of his heels clicking on the stone floor. Sarah watched him intently. He had not said one word since he had transported them to his chambers. 

It was times like this that made her realize how much she meant to him. He was allowing himself to walk along the edge of a cliff, letting his emotions take control of him. It was times like this that she realized how incredibly emotional and sensitive he really was. His arrogant behavior was a mask and a shield that he would use to hide his true feelings. She understood his reason to do this. She was guilty of doing it herself many times. One might go to great lengths to hide their feelings with false ones to throw others off. His arrogance and coldness had certainly thrown her off as a child. She never expected to find a loving, caring, compassionate man beneath all the arrogance and dominance. 

He was in turmoil. The shoe was on his foot now. It had been her that morning, learning from Megmora that she had lost the baby. Jareth had been hurt too, there was no way she could dismiss that, but he didn't hurt the way that she had. Just as now she didn't hurt in the same way that he did. He had lost his temper and in front of her daughter. Ary had never shown any fear toward him and now she was afraid. Not only did the idea that the child was afraid of him, hurt him, but the knowledge that because of his actions, Ary might decide she wanted to return home. He might lose Ary and Sarah.

She couldn't stand watching him pace any longer and she rose from the bed, crossing the room to pull him into her arms. "Stop." She told him softly. "Wasn't it you who told me to stop blaming myself for the baby? There is a part of me who will always blame myself, but there is a greater part of me that knows that you're right. Mother nature took our baby from us. For some reason it was meant to happen. Just as for some reason Ary was meant to see that firey temper of yours. You told me yourself that she would see it one day, she did. Now we have to figure out how to make things right again."

'How Sarah? How we will make it right? How can I drive the fear from her? I've lost her trust."

"We might never drive it from her completely, but we can try." She reached out to stroke his face with his fingers and he closed his eyes at the touch. "She knows that you are a good person. She's seen what you've done for me, she knows what you have done for her. We need to make her remember that. We all have a dark side, all of us, myself included. I need to teach her about that, just as I need to explain to her that she has to make a decision. Does she want to stay, or go? I need to make her understand the weight of her consequences. That she will not be the only one effected by the decision she makes."

"But is the decision too great Sarah? Are you asking too much from a child who is 8 years old?"

Sarah gently pulled his bare hands into hers and guided him to the bed where she sat and pulled him down along side her. "I've thought about it myself. How can I give such a responsibility to my little girl? But it's not so much about responsibility. It's about being able to have a choice. Let me tell you a story." She pulled his hands into her lap and gently smoothed over his skin with one thumb as she continued. 

"My father started dating my step mother when I was 10. I hated her, didn't want her to take the place of my mother. I wanted the old life that I had known to come back. But as time passed I knew it wouldn't return. I love my father dearly, but there was one thing he did that took me a long time to forgive him for." Jareth leaned in toward her, listening intently. "I went to visit my mother for a long weekend. She was doing a big play in New York City and she invited me to the opening. While I was gone my father and his girlfriend decided to have a small wedding and I wasn't even told about it. He went off and married this woman that I couldn't stand and didn't even tell me! Didn't ask if it was ok with me, didn't ask if it was what I wanted. Just went off and married her behind my back and expected me to be fine with that. It was devastating to me and then for them to have a baby together. That was the last straw."

"That's why you wished away your brother…you were angry with what happened."

She nodded. "And it wasn't only that. I knew he was a baby and he would get attention but they spoiled him rotten. Made me stay home with him every weekend so that they could go out to the movies and dinner. Then these rules started popping up out of no where about where I could go and who I could hang out with. Karen enforced them on me so I couldn't stray far, so I had to watch Toby and then she would tell my father that something was wrong with me because I didn't go out, didn't date. I told my father about her rules and he brushed me off, said I was being too harsh on Karen."

'No wonder you wished him away. You wanted your freedom."

"yes! My father, perhaps not knowing took my freedom away by marrying Karen. I lived in a cage. The only time I found freedom was when I managed to escape to the park and read lines from my books. I felt free when I could fantasize about myself in another place and time." She looked into Jareth eyes. "I won't do the same thing to my little girl. God Jareth, I love you with all that I am and I want nothing more then to marry you and stay with you forever, but in doing so I might take away my little girl's freedom. If she doesn't want to be here and share this life with us, I could be taking her freedom away and I won't do that to her. I will sit down and explain everything to her, and that includes my feelings for you and go from there. But that is why I've left such a big decision to rest on her shoulders. She has the right to make a choice about her future. A choice I never had."

"Sarah this is commendable that you would want to give your daughter such an option, but what about you? What of your happiness, your freedom? If a life here with me is what you desire and you are forced to return to the mortal world, what will happen to you? Will you fall back into depression ? I doubt that you will be pleased to go back to a job you do not enjoy, to spend your evenings alone. I could visit once and a while, but not very often. I have a kingdom to run."

"Then you understand my obligations to my daughter. You have obligations to your kingdom." She paused, tears in her eyes. "I know that you want me to stay with you here and I want to stay with you, you know that. Jareth I have an 8 year old. She can't take care of herself. She still needs me. If she goes…I go..end of story." She said her last words with a slight coldness but her tears betrayed her. 

He sighed pulling her into her arms. _And we'll both be miserable…_

She sighed deeply and traced patterns on his chest with her fingers. "What was this I heard about you going after Gorgin?" She asked softly.

He pulled back slightly. "Who told you that?"

"Ary and Meg." She brushed back some of his hair from his eyes and gazed into them. "Why can't you just leave well enough alone? We're all safe."

'But for how long Sarah? You don't know Gorgin. He will not stop until he has what he wants and he wants my kingdom. He wants to use you as the bargaining tool and I won't rest until he's been captured or until he's dead."

"Jareth.."

"No Sarah. I'm going after him with my army if the bounty hunters have not picked him up and you are not going to change my mind."

"You are so stubborn!" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"And you're not? I want this kingdom to be safe should you and Ary be staying with and even if you don't stay it needs to be safe for my subjects and myself. I'll let the bounty hunters have their fun with him for a bit." He didn't tell her of his desire for revenge. He still blamed the loss of their child on Gorgin. He kissed her forehead. "I want to spend some time with my loved ones before their vacation time runs out." 

Sarah fell against him and he hugged her to him. It was times like this where he wished he could manipulate time, but she would know, Ary would know if he gave the days more hours. He sighed and touched her hair. He would have to wait as Sarah would for Ary's decision. A small grumbling was heard and Sarah blushed.

One of Jareth's brows rose as he gazed down at her. "Don't tell me that you didn't each lunch."

"Then I won't tell you." She gave him a lop sided grin.

"Sarah…Have you eaten anything while you've been back at the castle?"

"No comment."

"I'll take that as a no?" She nodded. "Sarah you are thin enough as it is and you've just gone through stress which could make you lose more weight. We're going to get something to eat right now and we'll see if Ary is awake to join us. And after that, you're getting some sleep."

""Jareth, I'm fine."

"No you aren't. You've had a rough last two days, we both have. We'll eat and then we're going to bed."

"You'll stay with me tonight?" 

"If that is what you want."

"Is that what you want?"

He grinned devilishly. "Sarah, you should know better then to ask. Let's get Ary and some food."

Ary was sitting up in her bed when she heard the door knob turn. The door opened and her mother and Jareth entered. Jareth walked in slowly, he seemed leery. Sarah gently squeezed his hand. He was nervous, she could sense it radiating from him. 

"Sleep well, sweetie?" Ary nodded. "We're going to eat dinner now. Are you hungry?" The little girl nodded again. She looked carefully from her mother to Jareth. The Goblin King was standing close to her mother and her mother was holding his hand into her own. They both looked tired and weary. Ary jumped up off the bed and walked to her mother, taking her mother's other hand. Then she looked up at Jareth.. 

Jareth said nothing and attempted to smile at her, but it wasn't working. He cursed himself for letting a child make him feel this way. He felt so vulnerable, nervous, weary. _Like mother like daughter. _He thought bitterly. Sarah and her daughter had successfully managed to allow his emotions to take precedence. 

Ary stared at him intently, her eyes locked with his. She stared at him for a long time and Jareth felt like time was standing still. And then the child shocked both adults. She released her mother's hand and hugged Jareth. Wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. The Goblin King glanced at Sarah who was suddenly beaming. Ary released him and Jareth knelt before her, confusion in his eyes. 

"Ary…I'm terribly sorry." He started slowly. "I-"

Ary put a finger to his lips as she had seen her mother do occasionally when she wanted him to stop speaking. "I forgive you." She told him softly. "I know you didn't mean to get mad." His eyes widened. She put her arms around his neck and he lifted her into his arms. Ary hugged him tightly. He felt like the Jareth she loved and remembered. Pulling back to look in his mismatched eyes she knew he was the Jareth her mother loved. There was no trace of anger, of that fury she has witnessed in the hall. 

Jareth looked to Sarah. He had a feeling that Ary had not been sleeping when they had talked in her room earlier. 

Sarah smiled and Jareth balanced Ary on one arm so he could slip his other around Sarah. Sarah smiled at her daughter. Her baby was 8 years old and she was mature beyond her years. She had found it in her heart to forgive Jareth and they didn't even have to sit and talk about it.

"How does something from Eddy's sound for dinner?" He offered. His mood had changed drastically and he was grinning. There was a relaxed look to him.

"Eddy's!!!!" Aryanna cried out. 

"I'm afraid that we won't be able to dine in, but perhaps we could order take out." He suggested.

"They deliver to your castle?" Ary asked him her eyes wide. 

He and Sarah chuckled. "Not exactly." He told the child with a knowing smile. 

"Can I have a cheeseburger with french fries?"

"You can have anything you want."

"What are you going to have mommy?"

"I think a chicken sandwich sounds really good right about now."

"No fish and chips this time?" Jareth asked her, brushing her hair with a light kiss. 

"Too greasy. My stomach still isn't feeling like it's old self."

"Well a chicken sandwich it is then and a cheeseburger with fries for Ary."

"Yay!!" 

Jareth felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off his shoulders and she smiled at the child in his arms. There was still worry in the pit of his stomach. He would be a fool to think that everything was suddenly ok. But he was content that for now they were all going to enjoy dinner together. He knew that Ary still had a decision to make, that despite finding it in her heart to forgive him that she still might choose to leave. He pushed the thought away. He planned on enjoying every second left of his time with Sarah and Ary. 


	40. Crystal Dreams.... (Final Chapter)

This is it folks, the LAST chapter! Enjoy!!!

Crystal Dreams…

Jareth's throaty laugh echoed through the hallway. Dinner had been wonderful and things seemed to be as back to normal. Ary had been incredibly silly at dinner, making silly faces at her mother and himself. Now she was talking about playing tea with Meg. 

"She wasn't very good at first. I don't think that she really wanted to play with me, but she came around." Ary smiled brightly. 

"Came around did she? I'll have to have a talk with that dragon. I can't believe she actually agreed to 'dress up' with you. That just doesn't seem like Meg." Jareth smiled. He caught himself calling Megmora by her nickname quite often. 

"She did it! She was wonderful to play tea with when she put her heart into it. I didn't want to stop playing." 

"All good things come to an end." Sarah told her. The trio had stopped outside of Ary's door and Jareth and Sarah were prepared to tuck the little girl in and tell her a story. 

"Mommy, can you tuck me in tonight?"

"Of course sweetie." She smiled. 

'No I mean alone." 

Sarah's smile faded and she looked up to Jareth who wasn't showing he was upset if he was. He merely nodded. "Go on. I'll see you later." He brushed Sarah's lips with a light kiss and then smiled at Ary. "Good night, little one. Don't let the Goblins bite."

Ary moved to him and hugged him tightly. "Good night Jareth. I promise I won't let them bite." She smiled. He released her and walked slowly away down the hall. 

Sarah and Ary walked into the room and Sarah watched her daughter change into her favorite blue pajamas and crawl into bed. Sarah sat down gently beside her on the mattress, pulling the covers up over her daughter. 

"Why didn't you want Jareth to stay while I tucked you in? You're not still angry at him are you?" 

Ary shook her head. "I wanted to talk to you alone mommy. You're always with Jareth."

Sarah gently brushed back Ary's dark hair. "I'm sorry. We really should spend more time together."

"Mommy do you still love Jareth?"

"Of course I do. Where did that question come from?" Sarah tilted her head gazing into her daughter's eyes. 

'I just wanted to know."

Sarah sighed. "Ary, do you know that we only have a few days left here?" Ary nodded. "How do you feel about that?" 

Ary moved into her mother's arms and rested her head against her chest. "I don't know…"

"You don't know?"

"I miss Uncle Toby and I miss watching cartoons, but I would miss Meg and I would miss the goblins."

"The Goblins? But you haven't spent any time with them."

Ary nodded looking into her mother's eyes. "But I have mommy. I met one while I was playing with Meg. Her name is Ravenna. She isn't like the other goblins. She's very smart and Meg sometimes let's her play tea with us."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about her?"

Ary shrugged. 'I don't know. I guess I was afraid that you wouldn't like her. Some of the goblins told me that Jareth doesn't like them. He kicked them all out of the castle because they were making messes in his throne room."

"Well they were pretty messy, but just because Jareth didn't want them in the castle doesn't mean that he doesn't like them. I'd like to meet Ravenna."

"Ok."

"Ary, I have to tell you something very important. There is something that you will need to do when our time here is over."

"What's that mommy?"

"You will have a very big decision to make about your future and also my future and Jareth's as well."

"A decision?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes sweetie. I want you to have a choice. The right to choose what you want to do with your life. If you don't want to stay in the Labyrinth anymore then we won't and we will go home. And if you want to stay, then we will stay with Jareth."

"I get to decide if we stay or go?"

"That's right."

Ary was silent for a moment as she contemplated this power she was given. "If we go home, can Jareth come?"

Sarah shook her head sadly. "No love, he can't. Jareth is the Goblin King and he has to stay here in the Labyrinth and run his kingdom. He could visit us, but it wouldn't be very often. Being a King is a busy and very important job."

"But what about making you happy? I wished for him to make you happy. If he isn't with us, will you cry again? Are you going to be sad?"

Sarah sighed and forced herself to be strong. "I won't lie to you Ary. I will be very sad without Jareth and I will cry, but I promise I won't let it interfere with our life. I'll try to forget him and move on. I won't let what happened when your father left me to happen again. Jareth made me strong again."

"But you will miss him."

"Terribly. Ary, I love Jareth very much. More then I ever loved any other man."

"Even my father?" Sarah's eyes filled with tears and she turned her face away. "Tell me the truth mommy. I'm growned up enough to know."

A tear slipped down Sarah's cheek and she nodded slowly. "Jareth came into my life before your father Ary. I didn't realize that I loved him back then."

Ary leaned against her mother. "Sometimes…..sometimes I wish he was my father."

Sarah sniffled. "Who love?"

"Jareth. You love him so much and he cares so much about you. Why didn't my father care about you? Why didn't he care about me? Why did he leave us mommy? We needed him and he let us down."

"He did let us down Ary. That happens sometimes. I don't know what went wrong with your father and I. He told me he loved me and I loved him, but he left anyway. He was a coward and he couldn't deal with the responsibility of a child so he left us. But what your father did does not make me love you any less. You will always be the one who means more to me then anything and that includes Jareth."

"What about Jareth mommy? Does he love me? Does he really love you? Or would he leave us too?"

"Ary, I don't doubt Jareth's love for either one of us. He has proved his love over and over again. If he didn't love me, he would have let Gorgin keep me. He would not have found Hoggle and come after me, if he didn't love me he would not have cared that I lost the baby and he would not have been so upset about frightening you."

"He was upset?"

Sarah nodded. "Very upset. He was afraid that you would not forgive him. I am VERY proud of you for the way you acted with Jareth. You have no idea how proud I am."

Ary clutched her mother gently. "I couldn't stay mad at him mommy, I just couldn't." 

Sarah hugged her. "I know sweetie, I couldn't stay mad at him very long either. A long time ago Jareth was a different person but now…." She smiled. 

"What was he like?"

"When I was a teenager he was very cold, he didn't seem to care about anyone but himself. But he changed. He fell in love with me and he changed."

Ary pulled back and looked worriedly into her mother's eyes. "But what if I make the wrong decision mommy? I want you to be happy."

"And I want you to be happy." Sarah told her kissing her forehead. "I want you to think really hard before you make your decision. Think about all the things you can have and can't have at home or here and you make a decision based on what means the most to you. I will respect and go with your decision no matter what it is, and Jareth will do the same."

"When do I make the decision? Now?"

Sarah shook her head. "You'll make it on the last day that we're here. In about 4 days. Now, it's time for bed."

Ary crawled back into the covers and pulled them up to her chin. "Will you tell me about how you met Jareth, mommy? How you wished Uncle Toby away?"

Sarah nodded and inched closer to her daughter to tell the story. 

* * *

He was by the window when she slowly opened the door that separated their rooms. He was a shadow against the bright moon. The only thing that made one notice he was not a shadow was his wind swept blond hair that looked white in the moonlight. 

Sarah moved to him slowly. She could tell that he was deep in thought as he gazed out over his kingdom. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder so she wouldn't startle him and he turned his head to smile at her. 

He could tell she had been crying. She had probably told Ary about her right to have a decision and who knows what else had happened. He lifted one arm, his cape billowing in the breeze behind him, beckoning her to come closer. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, his cape settling over her as he put an arm around her. He wrapped her carefully into his world. 

She sighed leaning her head against the warm flesh of his chest. She could feel his heart beating softly and she smiled as she thought back to the night when he had put her hand over his heart. He had desperately tried to make her see that he was real and not a figment of her own wild imagination. To make her see that she wasn't going crazy and that she wasn't dreaming. He really was there, just as he was here now.

He lowered his face into her soft hair, breathing in the scent of rose scented soap. He closed his eyes, savoring this precious time with her. He had no idea if this might be one of the last times he held her. 

With a soft sigh she broke the silence, picking up her head to gaze into his beautiful eyes. "I have no idea what she is going to decide. She's confused." She told him softly. 

Despite the worry in his heart, he smiled. "She's an intelligent child. She will choose the right thing."

"How can you sound so calm? We might lose each other."

"I didn't mean to say that the right decision would include me or us. Ary will make the right decision for her. Didn't we say that if things were meant to be, then they would be? I've learned that fate works in crazy ways. I never believed that I would see you again after you defeated my Labyrinth, no matter how badly I wanted it to happen. Yet fate willed it that I would see you again and that things would be different for us. We would reunite, older, more mature. I think I did more maturing in those 20 years then I did in a few hundred." She grinned. 

"But we became lovers instead of enemies. We understood each other more. It was meant for us to meet. If it is meant for us to continue this growing and learning together then it will continue. But if all of this has been a lesson, an experience, then who are we to argue with fate? We should be grateful that we were able to have this second chance at all."

"I told Ary that if we went home that I would try to forget you and move on. It was a lie. I could never even try to forget you."

He kissed her gently. "And you shouldn't forget me, no matter how much it hurts if we aren't together. Just as I will not forget you."

"Would…" She swallowed, almost afraid to ask her question. A question that had been nagging her for sometime.

"What?" he asked softly. 

"Would you take on another lover? Would you search for a Goblin Queen if I left?" She held her breath, waiting for his answer.

Jareth shook his head, his blond hair drifting around him. "My heart will be closed from all others. If you leave, I will continue to love you, even if you can't be here with me and I can't be with you. There is only one woman I would ever claim as my queen….and that's you."

Tears flooded her eyes and she hugged him tightly. He sighed deeply and held her. 

That night they lay in each other's warm embrace content with being able to be together at all. It had been a long hard day. Sleep claimed them both quickly. 

* * *

The days went by quickly, much to Sarah and Jareth's dismay. Aryanna had not said a word about her decision. She spent time with Jareth and her mother, spent time with Megmora and also spent time with her goblin friend Ravenna. 

Sarah was delighted to meet such a charming young goblin. She was truly unlike the others, except for her tendency to babble on, but then again Ary was known for that as well. 

They tried to do everything together, Meg included as often as possible. Ary was tucked into bed by Sarah who would then would spend the night in Jareth's arms. They didn't talk about the fact that their days were numbered. They were content to be together.

Good news came on the second to last day before Sarah and Ary's vacation was over. One of Jareth's old guards had captured Gorgin. Jareth ordered that he be held in a dungeon and the same with his henchmen. The Goblin King would deal with the foul man after he spent time with his loved ones. 

The final day started off as any other. Breakfast together, lunch in the garden and time spent together outside enjoying the warmth of spring. Sarah could see that Jareth was growing more and more anxious and nervous with each passing hour. Ary would be making her decision before dinner. If she wanted to stay, they would eat together as a family. Then they would need to go home after dinner to pack their things and talk to Toby, but they would return. If she wanted to leave, Sarah and her daughter would be eating in their home aboveground, without Jareth. With the sad possibility that they might never seen the Goblin King again.

As the time for the decision neared Meg made herself scarce so that they could have a little privacy. Sarah was sitting in the grass watching as Jareth pushed Ary on a swing. She smiled as she watched them. Jareth really would make a wonderful father. She wondered if Ary knew that. 

Ary grew bored of swinging after a short while and Jareth slowed the swing, pulling her down off of it. Together they walked to where Sarah sat on the grass. Sarah smiled and opened her arms to her daughter who fell into them. Jareth fell beside them in the grass. Dressed in a navy blue open front poet shirt and black pants, he looked incredibly handsome. Sarah smiled at him as he collapsed beside her. He grinned in return. 

Ary was very quiet as she lay in her mother's arms. She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. Sarah's eyes widened as she realized it was a crystal. The little girl slowly pulled away from her mother to sit in front of both Jareth and her mother. 

"What do you see?" She asked holding the crystal up to her mother's eyes. 

Sarah shook her head and closed her eyes. "Those are your dreams Ary, you shouldn't show them to me or they won't come true."

Ary shook her head. "They won't come true if I don't show you." She then brought the crystal in front of Jareth. "What do you see?" She asked him. 

He swallowed and glanced at Sarah. She nodded at him, a lump in her throat. He carefully peered into the crystal. He could see people, but he couldn't see a clear enough picture to recognize them. Very slowly the images cleared and he gasped. 

"What is it?" Sarah couldn't keep the fear out of her voice. 

He took a few quick shallow breaths and his eyes focused on Sarah. 

"What is it?" The panic filled her tone. 

Jareth looked at Ary who smiled. "It's us….all of us…." He told Sarah. Sarah felt her heart beat quicken. Jareth's mismatched eyes widened and he pulled Sarah's hands into his as he continued to look into the crystal he had given the child so many months before. 'By the bog…..it's an image of us….getting married. Aryanna is the flower girl." His breath was coming in short quick gasps. 

Sarah's eyes widened, her heart beating even faster as she glanced at her daughter. "Ary?"

The little girl lowered the crystal and kneeled in front of Jareth, staring intently into his eyes. "Will you be my daddy? Will you marry mommy? I don't want to leave the Labyrinth. If we stay and mommy marries you then I can have a daddy. Having a daddy is more important then riding my bike, or watching cartoons. It's more important then ice cream and going to Eddy's to dance." Jareth couldn't speak. "If we go home, mommy will be sad again, I know she will and I will be sad too without you. Do you want to be my father?" Ary asked him with a smile. 

"Yes…." He managed to choke out. He reached out a tentative hand to touch her. He was trembling as he brushed back her long dark hair. "I…The first time I saw you…I wished that I was your father."

"Well then you got your wish, just like I got mine." Ary told him with a brilliant smile. 

Jareth was still in shock and he gazed at Sarah who was shaking. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms, laughing. Joy filled his heart. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she let him embrace her. She felt the terrible weight of fear lift it self away from her. Jareth pulled Ary into the embrace and the little girl hugged both adults tightly. 

Just beyond a large shrub stood a dragon with tears in hers eyes and a dwarf with a smile on his face. 

* * *

Toby yawned and stretched. He had gotten word from Sarah that she was coming home to pack some things. It appeared that she would be staying with Jareth permanently. He was extremely happy for her as well as Jareth and Ary. His niece was so excited because Sarah and Jareth agreed to marry. Ary was going to have a father. After 8 years with out a father, she was finally going to have one. 

"Toby we're home!" Sarah cried out. She sounded excited and he could hardly blame her. She was going to stay where her heart had been for the past twenty years. She was going to marry the man she truly loved for those past twenty years. 

Hey sis!" He entered the kitchen to find her with Jareth and Ary. 

"Uncle Toby, I'm going to be a princess!" the little girl cried out, hugging him. 

"So I heard! You're going to be Princess Aryanna."

Cheryl entered the kitchen, having just come down from the bathroom. Toby smiled at her. 

Sarah rushed to her brother hugging him tightly. "Toby you look so good!"

'I'm feeling good too, thanks to your fiancé." She grinned at the word. She pulled back as Cheryl stepped closer to Toby. Toby extended a hand to Jareth who grinned and shook it. "Congratulations. You've got yourself one hell of a fiancée. You'd better treat her right, and my niece or you're gonna get it!" There was a smile on his face as he said the words and Jareth grinned at him. 

"I promise they will be very well taken care of." He put a hand on Sarah's shoulder who smiled up at him. 

"When's the wedding?" Cheryl asked. 

"We haven't decided yet. I mean this all happened so quickly, Ary deciding she wanted to stay, Jareth proposing to me. We haven't had the time to really discuss it." Sarah told her.

"Well." Toby said grinning at Cheryl. "You two aren't the only love birds getting married." He put an arm around Cheryl. 

Sarah gasped. "You don't mean?"

Toby grinned. "Show them your rock Cher."

Cheryl lifted her hand to present a beautiful diamond engagement ring. 

Sarah hugged Cheryl and then her brother. "This is so wonderful!" She gently reached for Cheryl's hand to look at the beautiful ring that Toby had given her. She then looked at Jareth. "I didn't get a ring." She told him with a lop sided grin. 

"ut oh, busted!" Toby exclaimed, laughing. 

Jareth stepped forward, taking Sarah's hand in his own and placed a delicate kiss on her skin. "No my love, you get an entire Kingdom."

Sarah blushed. "Well I guess that will have to do." She teased. 

"Oh my goodness!" Ary suddenly cried out. 

"What is it Ary?" Toby asked her. 

"I get to be a flower girl twice!!!" she shrieked. 

The adults laughed. 

Sarah became serious and looked at her brother. "Did you set a date yet?"

"Not yet, but we're thinking next summer. It will give us enough time to plan."

"Well I'm sure that you can forgive me Toby."

Her brother looked puzzled. "For what Sar?"

She reached for his hand and placed something in it. He opened his hand to find a key. "Sar, what are you giving me your house key for? I already have one."

"An early wedding present to you both. I want you to have the house." She told him with a smile.

Cheryl gasped and Toby's jaw dropped. "Oh my god, are you serious?"

Sarah smiled and nodded. "I won't have any use for it. I have a castle to live in. You and Cheryl can raise your family here."

"I don't know what to say." Toby told her. 

"Tell me that you'll accept it and I'll have all the papers signed over. You can stop paying rent and can take over the mortgage. There's not much left to go."

Toby pulled his sister into his arms. "Thank you Sarah. You know I'll take it."

"We'll take very good care of the house." Cheryl told her. 

Sarah smiled. "I know you will."

"So what are the plans right now?" Toby asked her. 

"Time for Ary and I to gather some of our belongings. She wants to bring her bicycle and I have a few things I'd like to take with me. You said you'd be willing to continue to take Ary on the weekends, right? So I could leave some of her clothes here?"

"You bet. And you had better visit us every so often Sarah, you too Jareth."

"We will, just as you will both have to visit us in the Underground." Sarah replied.

"I can't wait to go! Toby was telling me all about it!" Cheryl exclaimed. 

"Well you will both have to visit very soon." Jareth told her.

"We'd like that." Toby smiled at him. Jareth nodded. 

Just then there was a terrible scream and a crash that sounded as if it was coming from next door. 

"What the heck was that?" Toby asked. Sarah and Cheryl shrugged and Jareth grinned. 

"It sounded like it came from Linda's house." Toby noted. 

The group walked to the den window and peered outside. They all started laughing. Linda was running around shrieking. Her hair was in curlers, she had on a green facial and she was in her bath robe. There was stuff all over her yard. Trash, furniture, her car looked like someone had finger painted all over it.

"hee hee." Ary giggled. "She looks like the wicked witch from the Wizard of oz!" 

Cheryl laughed out loud. "My god, she does look like her!"

Jareth chuckled as he watched The Trash Queen running around like an imbecile. 

"Jareth, what did you do?" Sarah asked him. She saw that knowing smirk on his face.

"I didn't do anything… this time" he added with a smile. 

"Why don't I believe you?"

He pretended that he was offended. "Honestly Sarah it wasn't me. I can't be at fault for telling the goblins to act like themselves."

"Oh lord, you didn't?"

He grinned and Sarah started laughing. Toby and Cheryl joined in. Sure enough a few moments later some goblins rushed out the garage. Two were trying to ride Melanie's bicycle. They didn't do so well and fell over into one of the bushes. A few others were tossing pots and pans out a window. 

"Now I know why you kicked them out of the castle." Sarah laughed. Jareth let out a throaty laugh.

The group watched the scene for a short while and Sarah and Ary began to gather a few things. 

"Promise me that you'll keep in touch with us." Toby told Sarah. 

"I promise Toby."

"Here." Jareth pulled a crystal from thin air and handed it to Toby. "Ask to see Sarah and you will be able to talk with her. Ask it to visit Sarah and you will be transported to the Labyrinth." 

Toby smiled. "Thank you." Jareth nodded. 

Jareth transported Sarah and Ary's things to the Labyrinth and Jareth watched as Sarah walked around the house, letting her fingers run over the wood of the mantle above the fireplace. She looked at the couch and smiled and allowed her eyes to trail over everything, memories appearing in her mind. Ary was with Toby and Cheryl babbling on about being a flower girl so Jareth stood in the doorway watching her. She stopped in front of the mantle again and she gazed at the pictures still there. Despite dropping and breaking the picture of herself with Adam she had put it in a new frame and back on the mantle. She gazed at it, and felt Jareth's hand touch her shoulder. 

She gazed at him, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. "It took me 8 years to realize that him leaving was the best thing he could have done for Ary and myself. I don't want to think about how life would have been had he stayed. I should have seen back then, that things would have never worked out between us. But because he left, you were allowed to re enter my life."

Jareth gazed at the picture. Adam was a tall man, short blond hair, green eyes and pale skin. He felt no jealousy at seeing Sarah in his arms, smiling happily. "Then I owe this man, for leaving and allowing me to take his place." 

Sarah smiled and fell into his arms. He hugged her tightly and kissed her. 

"Ewwww!" came a cry. "They're kissing again!" 

Sarah blushed and buried her face into Jareth's chest as Toby, Cheryl and Ary entered the room.

"And what's wrong with kissing?" Cheryl asked with her hands on her hips.

"They do it all the time!" Ary exclaimed and Toby chuckled. "What's so funny Uncle Toby?"

"You'll understand it all when you get older." He told her. 

"Ready to go home?" Jareth asked Sarah. 

She lifted her head and smiled at him. "Yes."

"Ary?" he asked her. 

The little girl rushed toward them. "I'm ready!"

Toby smiled sadly and he walked to Sarah hugging her tightly. "I love you Sarah."

"I love you too Toby." She kissed his forehead and smiled, backing away slowly toward Jareth and her daughter. 

"I'll see you soon." He told Sarah and his niece. 

Sarah smiled and nodded. Jareth pulled forth a crystal and he, Sarah and Ary faded from the living room. 

Toby blinked back tears and Cheryl hugged him tightly. "They're happy, Tobe. All of them are really happy."

"I know, Sarah got her fairy tale ending after all and no one deserves it more then her." Cheryl smiled and hugged him. 

Toby glanced at the crystal in his hand and smiled. Within the glass sphere was an image of his niece hugging a dragon. There was a goblin running around excitedly and a short man standing with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face. And then there was his sister, nestled in the arms of a Goblin King. She was smiling sweetly as he returned her embrace and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She rested her head against his chest and smiled as she looked at the scene spread out before them. He took her hand into his and together they walked to join the others. 

Oh my god! It's done!!!!! I did it! I finished it!!! Whoo hoo! * calms down. * So what did you all think? Like it? Satisfied with the ending or am I going to be coerced into writing a sequel? I have one in mind, but I'm unsure if I want to go with it right away. I think I need a little time off from writing for a bit. But I would like to write a sequel. If there is enough interest, I'll give it a go. 

I want to take this time to thank all of my dedicated readers, especially, Silver Space, lostfeyth, The Hooded Crow, JGK, Xelia, crystalqueen, Jupluna, Nicole, Hinotori, JC Niffers, Anne-Marie, Wynthijade, Crystalmagic, General Sephiroth , Mimea, Tira wolf, Redaura, Charli, Sorceress Morgana, SqueezyStan, Sailor Crystals, Addie, Elenhiril, Antoinette, Anita King, Midnight Lady, Dracio Slayer, Mao-Cat,. I hope I didn't forget anyone. You are all a wonderful group of people and I have looked so forward to reading your comments everyday for each chapter. You guys kept me sane as I wrote this. Clones, cake, cookies, to all of you! 

Thanks for reading and reviewing, 

Corrie~ (Cormak3032)

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